Relationship elucidated between genes associated with psychiatric disorders and social communication

A study, published recently in Molecular Psychiatry, has investigated the genetic overlap between the risk of psychiatric disorders and social communication problems. The researchers demonstrated that genes associated with both schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) overlapped with genes conferring social competence; however, the genetic links had distinct developmental profiles. It is known that individuals suffering from ASD and schizophrenia demonstrate a phenotypic overlap in difficulties with social communication and interaction. However, the two disorders are very different in their development; ASD symptoms typically present in infancy whereas the symptoms of schizophrenia may not appear before early adulthood. To investigate...