Project Summary

Thomas G. Schulze, M.D. (Young Investigator 2007) of Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim University of Heidelberg, Germany, is studying a gene called G72 on chromosome 13q that has been established as a vulnerability gene for both schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). Further work seems to link the same variant with panic disorder (PD) and unipolar depression (UD). It is therefore possible that G72 crosses diagnostic boundaries and is associated with the biological mechanisms of underlying traits common to several psychiatric phenotypes. Dr. Schulze proposes to apply a variety of standard and novel genetico-statistical approaches (e.g., data-mining, multivariate similarity analysis) to investigate the impact of G72 on personality traits, also incorporating gene-environment interactions into the statistical model. He anticipates the study will not only contribute to elucidating a genetic overlap between disorders, but may also guide the formulation of paradigms for biological endophenotypes (e.g., functional imaging, neuropsychology) of psychiatric disorders.

Program Area: MULTIPLE FOCUS\Mood Disorders/Schizophrenia

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