Genetic studies of psychiatric disorders have become an important specialty area within medical genetics. Much of the progress in the area is the result of advances in molecular genetics techniques, The Human Genome Project, developments in the neurosciences, and recent genetic findings in complex brain disorders such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease.

Psychiatric Disorders with Genetic Involvement

It is well accepted that many of the psychiatric disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition, have hereditary predispositions. (The DSM-IV is the official diagnostic manual for mental disorders in the United States.) In the last two decades, clinical genetic (family, twin, and adoption) studies have provided some valuable information about both the genetic and environmental aspects that lead to the development of these psychiatric disorders. More recently, a growing number of molecular genetics studies have provided more data about the genetics of the disorders. However...