Summary: According to latest reviews of biological and community studies, premorbid cognitive deficits in dementia, such as lower IQ, are primarily the result of developmental disruptions rather than inherited biological variants that instantly raise the risk of schizophrenia.
The results point to the position that non-familial aspects, such as rare genetic variants and environmental influences, play in both mental impairments and the risk of dementia. This challenges the long-held notion that dementia and mental imbalances are genetically related.
In order to develop prevention and treatment techniques for both mental impairment and schizophrenia, the research emphasizes the need to look into early neurodevelopmental disruptions.
Important Information:
- Premorbid cognitive shortfalls in dementia stem from developmental disruptions, never inherited genetics.
- Non-familial components, including rare genetic variants, are key donors.
- Better reduction strategies may be made possible by better understanding neurocognitive disruptions.
Origin: Genomic Press
In a comprehensive review of recent genetic and population studies, published in the peer-reviewed medical journal , Genomic Psychiatry , ( Genomic Press, New York ), Professors Michael Owen and Michael O’Donovan of Cardiff University’s Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics present evidence that challenges conventional wisdom about cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.
Their study reveals that impairment cognitive impairment, including lower IQ and other cognitive deficits that are present before the beginning of psychosis, is largely attributable to non-familial factors rather than the same inherited genetic variants that raise the risk of schizophrenia itself.
” For generations, we’ve assumed that the same genetic factors that cause schizophrenia’s impairment mental problems were directly to blame,” said Professor Owen.
” Our analysis of the most recent research suggests this is n’t the case.” Instead, it seems that both the mental deficits and the increased risk of developing schizophrenia are caused by developmental problems.
Important results from the evaluation include:
- Premorbid cognitive impairment indicates that there is a neurodevelopmental upheaval that raises the risk of dementia, but mental impairment is not directly linked to schizophrenia.
- A person’s mental capacity deviating from what would be expected based on family background is a better indicator of the underlying developmental commotion that raises schizophrenia risk than absolute mental ability.
- The same parental factors, including inherited typical genetic variants, that commonly affect mental ability in the general populace, do not appear to be the primary causes of the neurodevelopmental disturbance. Instead, rare genetic variants including copy number variations ( CNVs ) and damaging coding mutations that occur as new or , de novo , mutations contribute, as do other non-familial environmental risk factors.
- There is data for an increased risk of dementia and additional mental decline in some people, but this does not appear to be insignificantly related to the prevalence of genetic neurological disorders.
The scientists propose a design in which developmental disturbances, largely influenced by non-familial factors, guide to both mental damage and increased vulnerability to dementia.
They even challenge the idea of a unique “neurodevelopmental variant” of schizophrenia, rather suggesting a range of developmental impairment across the disorder.
These studies have significant implications for how we interpret mental and psychiatric disorders, according to Professor O’Donovan.
For the development of interventions designed to prevent or mitigate both the cognitive deficits and the risk of dementia, it will be crucial to understand the causes of premature developmental problems.
The study also emphasizes the need for further research into the causes of mental decline following the onset of dementia as well as the population’s increased risk of dementia. Understanding these methods may lead to novel ways to maintain cognitive performance in people with schizophrenia throughout their lives.
This review makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how dementia risk and genetics interact in a sophisticated way.
It opens the door to more thorough investigation into the causes of cognitive impairment in psychosis, which may eventually lead to the development of new prevention and treatment techniques.
About this information on thinking and dementia
Author: Ma-Li Wong
Source: Genomic Press
Contact: Ma-Li Wong – Genomic Press
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Start entry.
” The biology of consciousness in dementia” by Michael Owen et cetera. Genomic Psychiatry
