Various neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and some forms of intellectual disability have similar genetic causes which include different sequences in the DNA on certain parts of the genome called variants, that can occur on any specific genes and can have a great impact on brain function.
Schizophrenia affects a person’s thoughts and behaviors. Schizophrenia commonly involves psychosis which is a loss of connection with reality in some form and may include hearing voices or holding false beliefs that may lead to paranoia.
One in a hundred people in the general population with rare genetic variants may increase the likelihood of neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Testing for these potentially harmful genetic changes among people with neuropsychiatric disorders could lead to better outcomes.
