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Gene Expression Overlaps Among Psychiatric Disorders — Ashley P. Taylor

  • The Scientist
  • (February 08, 2018)

Psychiatric disorders display common patterns of gene expression, according to a study published in Science. Researchers have analyzed transcripts within the post-mortem brains of hundreds of people with autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, or alcoholism, as well as healthy controls, in order to learn about how gene expression changes within the diseased brain. “I think the study has to be commended in terms of methodological rigor,” said Sophia Frangou, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who was not involved in the work. The study’s results are not particularly revelatory, she added, because it’s already known that many genetic variants link different psychiatric disorders. “It’s nice to see this overlap extend into gene expression, but in many ways it’s more confirmatory rather than outright novel.”

  • Sophia Frangou, MD, PhD, Professor, Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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