TL;DR: A 2026 Nature Communications study found that extra MeCP2, the dosage-sensitive protein linked to Rett syndrome and MECP2 duplication syndrome, disrupted neural progenitor cells far more than mature neurons by activating developmental genes too early. Key Findings Cell timing mattered: MeCP2 overexpression caused broad transcriptional changes in neural progenitor cells, but only modest changes …
TL;DR: A 2026 study in Epigenetics found that DNA methylation clocks, which estimate biological aging from chemical marks on DNA, gave substantially older age estimates in saliva than in two blood-derived samples from 91 early-to-mid-adult participants. Key Findings The sample included 91 adults: Researchers analyzed participants from a twin and sibling study with a mean …
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 …
