Cited by 477Genetic Associations and EpidemiologySchizophrenia research and treatmentGenetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals

The endophenotype concept in psychiatric genetics

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FLINT, JONATHAN, MUNAFÒ, MARCUS R.·2007·Psychological Medicine

Abstract

The idea that some phenotypes bear a closer relationship to the biological processes that give rise to psychiatric illness than diagnostic categories has attracted considerable interest. Much effort has been devoted to finding such endophenotypes, partly because it is believed that the genetic basis of endophenotypes will be easier to analyse than that of psychiatric disease. This belief depends in part on the assumption that the effect sizes of genetic loci contributing to endophenotypes are larger than those contributing to disease susceptibility, hence increasing the chance that genetic linkage and association tests will detect them. We examine this assumption by applying meta-analytical techniques to genetic association studies of endophenotypes. We find that the genetic effect sizes of the loci examined to date are no larger than those reported for other phenotypes. A review of the genetic architecture of traits in model organisms also provides no support for the view that the effect sizes of loci contributing to phenotypes closer to the biological basis of disease is any larger than those contributing to disease itself. While endophenotype measures may afford greater reliability, it should not be assumed that they will also demonstrate simpler genetic architecture.

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  • The Met allele is associated with fewer perseverative errors in healthy individuals.

    “Better working memory (WM) performance (e.g. in N-back tasks), fewer perseverative errors, and higher IQ tend to be associated with the Met allele in healthy individuals (9-11), although some studies have failed to replicate these effects (see 10).”
  • The Met allele is associated with higher IQ in healthy individuals.

    “Better working memory (WM) performance (e.g. in N-back tasks), fewer perseverative errors, and higher IQ tend to be associated with the Met allele in healthy individuals (9-11), although some studies have failed to replicate these effects (see 10).”
  • The Met allele is associated with better working memory performance in healthy individuals.

    “Better working memory (WM) performance (e.g. in N-back tasks), fewer perseverative errors, and higher IQ tend to be associated with the Met allele in healthy individuals (9-11), although some studies have failed to replicate these effects (see 10).”

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Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Alarcon M. Cantor R. M. Geschwind D. H. 2003 Genetic etiology of autism endophenotypes American Journal of Physical Anthropology S36, 57.
  2. Cannon T. D. Gasperoni T. L. van Erp T. G. Rosso I. M. 2001 Quantitative neural indicators of liability to schizophrenia: implications for molecular genetic studies American Journal of Medical Genetics 105 16 19 11424984
  3. Cornblatt B. A. Malhotra A. K. 2001 Impaired attention as an endophenotype for molecular genetic studies of schizophrenia American Journal of Medical Genetics 105 11 15 11424979
  4. Freedman R. Adams C. E. Adler L. E. Bickford P. C. Gault J. Harris J. G. Nagamoto H. T. Olincy A. Ross R. G. Stevens K. E. Waldo M. Leonard S. 2000 Inhibitory neurophysiological deficit as a phenotype for genetic investigation of schizophrenia American Journal of Medical Genetics 97 58 64 10813805

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Authors
FLINT, J., & MUNAFÒ, M. R.
Venue
Psychological Medicine
Published
2006-09-18
Volume
37
Issue
2
Pages
163-180
ISSN
  • 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-8978
OpenAlex
W2115948763
Cited by
477
References
143
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 36 · 2012: 28
FWCI
5.05
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Wellcome Trust
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals
Keywords
endophenotypes, psychiatric genetics, genetic effect size, genetic association studies, genetic linkage, genetic architecture, model organisms, diagnostic categories
MeSH terms
Mental Disorders, Catechol O-Methyltransferase, Genotype, Humans, Models, Genetic, Models, Psychological, Phenotype, Psychiatry, Psychotic Disorders

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