2024-07-22 17:27:00
A group from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), part of the Synapsy Center for Research in Neuroscience and Mental Health, studied a group of patients with microdeletion 22q11.2DS, a genetic abnormality linked to disorders psychotic
Scientists found that this population has a unique “connectivity” between the structure and function of its brain regions, and that some regions lose their optimal coordination during development, leading to integration- or under-integration.
Microdeletion of the 22q11.2DS gene is the most common gene deletion. It affects 1 in 2,000 people and causes the absence of a small DNA sequence on chromosome 22. It can cause heart defects and immune dysfunction, but also psychotic disorders in youth or adulthood in 35% of those who live.
40% of them have developed schizophrenia, which is why the UNIGE group analyzed the development of integration between the brain areas of individuals in this group, from childhood to adulthood.
This brain synchronization, and even its optimization, develops during adolescence and adulthood. This difference is especially important in youth in three brain regions of “22q11.2DS” individuals who have developed schizophrenia: the frontal cortex, responsible for voluntary motor coordination and language; the cingulate cortex, at the interface between the two hemispheres of the brain, responsible for making decisions; and the temporal cortex, responsible for somatosensory functions. Coupling is the first two and hypercoupling is the third.
Using MRI techniques, scientists observed their growth over a period of twelve years in the group and in the control group. They showed that patients with the microdeletion have developmental abnormalities that persist from childhood, with areas of hyper- and hypocoupling throughout the brain.
This strong correlation between genetic variation and microdeletion of the 22q11.2DS gene is an important step toward identifying prognostic markers for the disease. This study is also a methodological innovation by combining observations of both brain structure and function to evaluate the developmental trajectory of the population in the field of mental illness.
These findings were published in the journal Of Psychiatry.
#assess #individual #risk #psychosis