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Gene–environment interactions in psychiatry: joining forces with neuroscience

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 7, pages 583–590 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Gene–environment interaction research in psychiatry is new, and is a natural ally of neuroscience. Mental disorders have known environmental causes, but there is heterogeneity in the response to each causal factor, which gene–environment findings attribute to genetic differences at the DNA sequence level. Such findings come from epidemiology, an ideal branch of science for showing that gene–environment interactions exist in nature and affect a significant fraction of disease cases. The complementary discipline of epidemiology, experimental neuroscience, fuels gene–environment hypotheses and investigates underlying neural mechanisms. This article discusses opportunities and challenges in the collaboration between psychiatry, epidemiology and neuroscience in studying gene–environment interactions.

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Figure 1: Approaches to psychiatric genetics research.
Figure 2: Integrating neuroscience and gene–environment interaction research.
Figure 3: Exposure to adverse rearing, genotype and adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) levels.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by the UK Medical Research Council, the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, the William T. Grant Foundation, and Royal Society Wolfson Merit Awards to T.E.M. and A.C. We thank the reviewers for their helpful comments.

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  1. Medical Research Council Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, P0 Box 80 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK

    Avshalom Caspi & Terrie E. Moffitt

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, 1202 West Johnson Street, Madison, 53706, Wisconsin, USA

    Avshalom Caspi & Terrie E. Moffitt

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Correspondence to Avshalom Caspi or Terrie E. Moffitt.

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Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. Gene–environment interactions in psychiatry: joining forces with neuroscience. Nat Rev Neurosci 7, 583–590 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1925

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