Epigenetic regulation in psychiatric disorders

Environmental impact actually important.

 

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 8, 355-367 (May 2007) | doi:10.1038/nrn2132

Epigenetic regulation in psychiatric disorders

Nadia Tsankova¹, William Renthal¹, Arvind Kumar¹ & Eric J. Nestler¹  About the authors

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Abstract

Many neurological and most psychiatric disorders are not due to mutations in a single gene; rather, they involve molecular disturbances entailing multiple genes and signals that control their expression. Recent research has demonstrated that complex 'epigenetic' mechanisms, which regulate gene activity without altering the DNA code, have long-lasting effects within mature neurons. This review summarizes recent evidence for the existence of sustained epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation in neurons that have been implicated in the regulation of complex behaviour, including abnormalities in several psychiatric disorders such as depression, drug addiction and schizophrenia.