Pharmacopsychiatry 2011; 21 - A31
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1292472

Neuropsychological intermediate phenotypes as tools for genetic studies in schizophrenia

M Friedl 1, I Giegling 1, AM Hartmann 1, H Konnerth 1, B Konte 1, HJ Möller 1, D Rujescu 1PGC-Consortium, SGENE-Consortium
  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Munich, Germany

Our ongoing project includes a broad range of schizophrenia-related endophenotypes. These comprise, among others, neuropsychological endophenotypes (working memory, attention/vigilance, verbal/visual learning and memory, speed of processing and problem solving). The concept on this is that clinical classification systems may describe heterogeneous disorders implying that the current psychiatric classification might not be optimal for genetic studies. In contrast, endophenotypes describe quantifiable measures of neuropsychiatric functioning which might not be restricted to one clinical entity but are more easily attributable to genetic variations. Therefore, the aim was to analyse a broad range of neuropsychological endophenotypes in patients with schizophrenia, first degree relatives and healthy controls and to search for associated genes. 386 patients with schizophrenia according to DSM-IV, siblings and 582 healthy volunteers were included. As an example, results on the Zinc Finger Protein 804A gene (ZNF804A) will be presented which has been implicated in schizophrenia (SZ) susceptibility by several genome-wide association studies.