Dr. Judit Cabana Dominguez works at the Department of Genetics, Microbiology & Statistics, University of Barcelona in Spain.
Behavior results from the complex interplay between genes and environment. Our genes predispose us to how we act and feel, by influencing how our brain develops and functions. This way, certain genetic variants in our genome increase the risk of developing mental health problems (while others may decrease this risk). Whether someone actually develops a mental health disorder or not, depends on many other factors in our environment, such as stressors and experiences. Nonetheless, studying these genetic risk factors for mental health conditions is an important aspect of understanding these disorders.
As an example of such research, we have now identified several genetic risk factors that contribute to cocaine dependence. For this, we combined genetic data from a lot of studies, including more than 6000 individuals. What’s even more interesting is that we found that the genetic variants that are related to cocaine dependence are correlated with the genetic risk factors for other conditions such as ADHD, schizophrenia and major depression. What this means is that certain small variations in DNA increase the risk for not just cocaine dependence, but actually several psychiatric conditions. Probably, there is a common biological mechanism that underlies all these conditions. Thanks to our genetic research, we are now only a small step closer to unraveling these mechanisms [1].
We also wrote a blog post explaining our research findings. You can read it here: https://mind-the-gap.live/2019/07/04/cocaine-dependence-is-in-part-genetic-and-it-shares-genetic-risk-factors-with-other-psychiatric-conditions-and-personality-traits/