TL;DR: A 2026 preprint in medRxiv used whole-genome sequencing in two families with many obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) cases and prioritized rare variants in NPY5R, DLGAP1, and MAPK8IP3, but the findings still need replication and functional testing. Key Findings Two densely affected families: Researchers sequenced 25 people from two multiplex OCD pedigrees, meaning families with several …
TL;DR: A 2026 methylome-wide study in Clinical Epigenetics found that genetically inferred CYP2C19 metaboliser status, a pharmacogenomic marker relevant to antidepressant handling, was associated with DNA methylation patterns in a large Scottish cohort. Key Findings 18,396-person discovery cohort: Generation Scotland supplied the main genetic and DNA methylation analysis for CYP2C19 metaboliser status. 48 quadratic CpG …
TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Nature mapped more than 76,000 single-neuron projections from the orofacial motor cortex (OMC) and found that Alston’s singing mouse, which produces audible song, has 2.8-fold higher OMC connectivity to an auditory cortical region and 3.3-fold higher OMC connectivity to the midbrain periaqueductal grey (PAG) than the laboratory mouse. Key …
TL;DR: A 2026 birth cohort study in Environment & Health linked low-level prenatal lead exposure to lower infant Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) developmental scores, with FAM50B/PTCHD3 DNA methylation markers explaining part of the association. Key Findings Lead was the clearest metal finding: Among 21 detectable cord-blood metals, lead showed a consistent negative association with …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Neuropsychopharmacology used CRISPR gene editing in human microglia-like cells and found that several schizophrenia-linked genes changed phagocytosis, cell shape, and immune-transcription programs. Key Findings Schizophrenia-linked microglia genes were testable: The screen focused on 30 genes predicted from postmortem transcriptomic data and microglial biology to affect phagocytosis pathways. CYFIP1, MSR1, TREM2, …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Psychological Medicine found that cognitive reserve in non-affective first-episode psychosis was higher with greater genetic predisposition to educational attainment and lower with earlier psychosis onset or family history of psychosis. Key Findings 174 first-episode patients: Researchers analyzed people with non-affective first-episode psychosis, with a mean age of 25.5 years. Educational-attainment …
TL;DR: A 2026 preprint registry-family study in medRxiv found that some maternal diagnosis-autism associations fit shared direct genetic effects, while other diagnoses showed stronger parallel-cousin associations, suggesting indirect genetic effects through the prenatal environment. Key Findings Study type: a three-generation Danish register study comparing full maternal parallel and cross cousin pairs. People studied: 1,131,899 children …
TL;DR: A 2026 cohort study in BJPsych Open found that childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) difficulties predicted poorer young-adult outcomes, but rare copy number variants (CNVs), which are deleted or duplicated DNA segments, did not clearly sharpen that prognosis. Key Findings 8,414 young people had CNV data: Researchers analyzed genetic and …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Scientific Reports used the German TwinLife panel (228 monozygotic and 212 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs) to show that intelligence quotient (IQ) at age 23 predicted four socioeconomic status (SES) outcomes at age 27, with genetic factors explaining 69-98% of the IQ-SES association. Key Findings IQ at age 23 predicted SES …
TL;DR: A 2026 Mendelian randomization study in Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry used genetic data to test direction of effect between brain structure and neurodevelopmental conditions, and found that increased surface area in the superior frontal gyrus raised ADHD risk while increased surface area in the orbital frontal gyrus protected against autism — with …
