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Using Nonhuman Primate Models to Reverse-Engineer Prefrontal Circuit Failure Underlying Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2023; 63:315-362. [PMID: 36607528 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2022_407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
In this chapter, I review studies in nonhuman primates that emulate the circuit failure in prefrontal cortex responsible for working memory and cognitive control deficits in schizophrenia. These studies have characterized how synaptic malfunction, typically induced by blockade of NMDAR, disrupts neural function and computation in prefrontal networks to explain errors in cognitive tasks that are seen in schizophrenia. This work is finding causal relationships between pathogenic events of relevance to schizophrenia at vastly different levels of scale, from synapses, to neurons, local, circuits, distributed networks, computation, and behavior. Pharmacological manipulation, the dominant approach in primate models, has limited construct validity for schizophrenia pathogenesis, as the disease results from a complex interplay between environmental, developmental, and genetic factors. Genetic manipulation replicating schizophrenia risk is more advanced in rodent models. Nonetheless, gene manipulation in nonhuman primates is rapidly advancing, and primate developmental models have been established. Integration of large scale neural recording, genetic manipulation, and computational modeling in nonhuman primates holds considerable potential to provide a crucial schizophrenia model moving forward. Data generated by this approach is likely to fill several crucial gaps in our understanding of the causal sequence leading to schizophrenia in humans. This causal chain presents a vexing problem largely because it requires understanding how events at very different levels of scale relate to one another, from genes to circuits to cognition to social interactions. Nonhuman primate models excel here. They optimally enable discovery of causal relationships across levels of scale in the brain that are relevant to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. The mechanistic understanding of prefrontal circuit failure they promise to provide may point the way to more effective therapeutic interventions to restore function to prefrontal networks in the disease.
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2
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Arnsten AFT, Datta D, Wang M. The genie in the bottle-magnified calcium signaling in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:3684-3700. [PMID: 33319854 PMCID: PMC8203737 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-020-00973-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2020] [Revised: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Neurons in the association cortices are particularly vulnerable in cognitive disorders such as schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease, while those in primary visual cortex remain relatively resilient. This review proposes that the special molecular mechanisms needed for higher cognitive operations confer vulnerability to dysfunction, atrophy, and neurodegeneration when regulation is lost due to genetic and/or environmental insults. Accumulating data suggest that higher cortical circuits rely on magnified levels of calcium (from NMDAR, calcium channels, and/or internal release from the smooth endoplasmic reticulum) near the postsynaptic density to promote the persistent firing needed to maintain, manipulate, and store information without "bottom-up" sensory stimulation. For example, dendritic spines in the primate dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) express the molecular machinery for feedforward, cAMP-PKA-calcium signaling. PKA can drive internal calcium release and promote calcium flow through NMDAR and calcium channels, while in turn, calcium activates adenylyl cyclases to produce more cAMP-PKA signaling. Excessive levels of cAMP-calcium signaling can have a number of detrimental effects: for example, opening nearby K+ channels to weaken synaptic efficacy and reduce neuronal firing, and over a longer timeframe, driving calcium overload of mitochondria to induce inflammation and dendritic atrophy. Thus, calcium-cAMP signaling must be tightly regulated, e.g., by agents that catabolize cAMP or inhibit its production (PDE4, mGluR3), and by proteins that bind calcium in the cytosol (calbindin). Many genetic or inflammatory insults early in life weaken the regulation of calcium-cAMP signaling and are associated with increased risk of schizophrenia (e.g., GRM3). Age-related loss of regulatory proteins which result in elevated calcium-cAMP signaling over a long lifespan can additionally drive tau phosphorylation, amyloid pathology, and neurodegeneration, especially when protective calcium binding proteins are lost from the cytosol. Thus, the "genie" we need for our remarkable cognitive abilities may make us vulnerable to cognitive disorders when we lose essential regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy F T Arnsten
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
| | - Dibyadeep Datta
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
| | - Min Wang
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
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3
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Jia P, Manuel AM, Fernandes BS, Dai Y, Zhao Z. Distinct effect of prenatal and postnatal brain expression across 20 brain disorders and anthropometric social traits: a systematic study of spatiotemporal modularity. Brief Bioinform 2021; 22:6291943. [PMID: 34086851 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbab214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Different spatiotemporal abnormalities have been implicated in different neuropsychiatric disorders and anthropometric social traits, yet an investigation in the temporal network modularity with brain tissue transcriptomics has been lacking. We developed a supervised network approach to investigate the genome-wide association study (GWAS) results in the spatial and temporal contexts and demonstrated it in 20 brain disorders and anthropometric social traits. BrainSpan transcriptome profiles were used to discover significant modules enriched with trait susceptibility genes in a developmental stage-stratified manner. We investigated whether, and in which developmental stages, GWAS-implicated genes are coordinately expressed in brain transcriptome. We identified significant network modules for each disorder and trait at different developmental stages, providing a systematic view of network modularity at specific developmental stages for a myriad of brain disorders and traits. Specifically, we observed a strong pattern of the fetal origin for most psychiatric disorders and traits [such as schizophrenia (SCZ), bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and neuroticism], whereas increased co-expression activities of genes were more strongly associated with neurological diseases [such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis] and anthropometric traits (such as college completion, education and subjective well-being) in postnatal brains. Further analyses revealed enriched cell types and functional features that were supported and corroborated prior knowledge in specific brain disorders, such as clathrin-mediated endocytosis in AD, myelin sheath in multiple sclerosis and regulation of synaptic plasticity in both college completion and education. Our study provides a landscape view of the spatiotemporal features in a myriad of brain-related disorders and traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peilin Jia
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin St. Suite 600, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Astrid M Manuel
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin St. Suite 600, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Brisa S Fernandes
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin St. Suite 600, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yulin Dai
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin St. Suite 600, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Zhongming Zhao
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin St. Suite 600, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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4
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Hidalgo S, Campusano JM, Hodge JJL. The Drosophila ortholog of the schizophrenia-associated CACNA1A and CACNA1B voltage-gated calcium channels regulate memory, sleep and circadian rhythms. Neurobiol Dis 2021; 155:105394. [PMID: 34015490 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2021.105394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia exhibits up to 80% heritability. A number of genome wide association studies (GWAS) have repeatedly shown common variants in voltage-gated calcium (Cav) channel genes CACNA1C, CACNA1I and CACNA1G have a major contribution to the risk of the disease. More recently, studies using whole exome sequencing have also found that CACNA1B (Cav2.2 N-type) deletions and rare disruptive variants in CACNA1A (Cav2.1 P/Q-type) are associated with schizophrenia. The negative symptoms of schizophrenia include behavioural defects such as impaired memory, sleep and circadian rhythms. It is not known how variants in schizophrenia-associated genes contribute to cognitive and behavioural symptoms, thus hampering the development of treatment for schizophrenia symptoms. In order to address this knowledge gap, we studied behavioural phenotypes in a number of loss of function mutants for the Drosophila ortholog of the Cav2 gene family called cacophony (cac). cac mutants showed several behavioural features including decreased night-time sleep and hyperactivity similar to those reported in human patients. The change in timing of sleep-wake cycles suggested disrupted circadian rhythms, with the loss of night-time sleep being caused by loss of cac just in the circadian clock neurons. These animals also showed a reduction in rhythmic circadian behaviour a phenotype that also could be mapped to the central clock. Furthermore, reduction of cac just in the clock resulted in a lengthening of the 24 h period. In order to understand how loss of Cav2 function may lead to cognitive deficits and underlying cellular pathophysiology we targeted loss of function of cac to the memory centre of the fly, called the mushroom bodies (MB). This manipulation was sufficient to cause reduction in both short- and intermediate-term associative memory. Memory impairment was accompanied by a decrease in Ca2+ transients in response to a depolarizing stimulus, imaged in the MB presynaptic terminals. This work shows loss of cac Cav2 channel function alone causes a number of cognitive and behavioural deficits and underlying reduced neuronal Ca2+ transients, establishing Drosophila as a high-throughput in vivo genetic model to study the Cav channel pathophysiology related to schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Hidalgo
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, University of Bristol, UK; Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
| | - Jorge M Campusano
- Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
| | - James J L Hodge
- School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Life Science, University of Bristol, UK.
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5
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Reis de Assis D, Szabo A, Requena Osete J, Puppo F, O’Connell KS, A. Akkouh I, Hughes T, Frei E, A. Andreassen O, Djurovic S. Using iPSC Models to Understand the Role of Estrogen in Neuron-Glia Interactions in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder. Cells 2021; 10:209. [PMID: 33494281 PMCID: PMC7909800 DOI: 10.3390/cells10020209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BIP) are severe mental disorders with a considerable disease burden worldwide due to early age of onset, chronicity, and lack of efficient treatments or prevention strategies. Whilst our current knowledge is that SCZ and BIP are highly heritable and share common pathophysiological mechanisms associated with cellular signaling, neurotransmission, energy metabolism, and neuroinflammation, the development of novel therapies has been hampered by the unavailability of appropriate models to identify novel targetable pathomechanisms. Recent data suggest that neuron-glia interactions are disturbed in SCZ and BIP, and are modulated by estrogen (E2). However, most of the knowledge we have so far on the neuromodulatory effects of E2 came from studies on animal models and human cell lines, and may not accurately reflect many processes occurring exclusively in the human brain. Thus, here we highlight the advantages of using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models to revisit studies of mechanisms underlying beneficial effects of E2 in human brain cells. A better understanding of these mechanisms opens the opportunity to identify putative targets of novel therapeutic agents for SCZ and BIP. In this review, we first summarize the literature on the molecular mechanisms involved in SCZ and BIP pathology and the beneficial effects of E2 on neuron-glia interactions. Then, we briefly present the most recent developments in the iPSC field, emphasizing the potential of using patient-derived iPSCs as more relevant models to study the effects of E2 on neuron-glia interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denis Reis de Assis
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway
| | - Attila Szabo
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway
| | - Jordi Requena Osete
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway
| | - Francesca Puppo
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Kevin S. O’Connell
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
| | - Ibrahim A. Akkouh
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway
| | - Timothy Hughes
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway
| | - Evgeniia Frei
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway
| | - Ole A. Andreassen
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0372 Oslo, Norway
| | - Srdjan Djurovic
- NORMENT, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo & Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, 0450 Oslo, Norway; (A.S.); (J.R.O.); (F.P.); (K.S.O.); (I.A.A.); (T.H.); (E.F.); (O.A.A.)
- NORMENT, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, 5020 Bergen, Norway
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6
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CACNA1S haploinsufficiency confers resistance to New World arenavirus infection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:19497-19506. [PMID: 32719120 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1920551117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the genetics of susceptibility to infectious agents is of great importance to our ability to combat disease. Here, we show that voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) are critical for cellular binding and entry of the New World arenaviruses Junín and Tacaribe virus, suggesting that zoonosis via these receptors could occur. Moreover, we demonstrate that α1s haploinsufficiency renders cells and mice more resistant to infection by these viruses. In addition to being more resistant to infection, haploinsufficient cells and mice required a lower dosage of VGCC antagonists to block infection. These studies underscore the importance of genetic variation in susceptibility to both viruses and pharmaceutics.
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7
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Britzolaki A, Saurine J, Klocke B, Pitychoutis PM. A Role for SERCA Pumps in the Neurobiology of Neuropsychiatric and Neurodegenerative Disorders. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2020; 1131:131-161. [PMID: 31646509 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-12457-1_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Calcium (Ca2+) is a fundamental regulator of cell fate and intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis is crucial for proper function of the nerve cells. Given the complexity of neurons, a constellation of mechanisms finely tunes the intracellular Ca2+ signaling. We are focusing on the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum (SR/ER) calcium (Ca2+)-ATPase (SERCA) pump, an integral ER protein. SERCA's well established role is to preserve low cytosolic Ca2+ levels ([Ca2+]cyt), by pumping free Ca2+ ions into the ER lumen, utilizing ATP hydrolysis. The SERCA pumps are encoded by three distinct genes, SERCA1-3, resulting in 12 known protein isoforms, with tissue-dependent expression patterns. Despite the well-established structure and function of the SERCA pumps, their role in the central nervous system is not clear yet. Interestingly, SERCA-mediated Ca2+ dyshomeostasis has been associated with neuropathological conditions, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. We summarize here current evidence suggesting a role for SERCA in the neurobiology of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, thus highlighting the importance of this pump in brain physiology and pathophysiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aikaterini Britzolaki
- Department of Biology & Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton (TREND), University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA
| | - Joseph Saurine
- Department of Biology & Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton (TREND), University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA
| | - Benjamin Klocke
- Department of Biology & Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton (TREND), University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA
| | - Pothitos M Pitychoutis
- Department of Biology & Center for Tissue Regeneration and Engineering at Dayton (TREND), University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA.
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8
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Andrade A, Brennecke A, Mallat S, Brown J, Gomez-Rivadeneira J, Czepiel N, Londrigan L. Genetic Associations between Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels and Psychiatric Disorders. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:E3537. [PMID: 31331039 PMCID: PMC6679227 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20143537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2019] [Revised: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 07/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychiatric disorders are mental, behavioral or emotional disorders. These conditions are prevalent, one in four adults suffer from any type of psychiatric disorders world-wide. It has always been observed that psychiatric disorders have a genetic component, however, new methods to sequence full genomes of large cohorts have identified with high precision genetic risk loci for these conditions. Psychiatric disorders include, but are not limited to, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, and attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder. Several risk loci for psychiatric disorders fall within genes that encode for voltage-gated calcium channels (CaVs). Calcium entering through CaVs is crucial for multiple neuronal processes. In this review, we will summarize recent findings that link CaVs and their auxiliary subunits to psychiatric disorders. First, we will provide a general overview of CaVs structure, classification, function, expression and pharmacology. Next, we will summarize tools to study risk loci associated with psychiatric disorders. We will examine functional studies of risk variations in CaV genes when available. Finally, we will review pharmacological evidence of the use of CaV modulators to treat psychiatric disorders. Our review will be of interest for those studying pathophysiological aspects of CaVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arturo Andrade
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA.
| | - Ashton Brennecke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Shayna Mallat
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Julian Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | | | - Natalie Czepiel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Laura Londrigan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
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Mäki-Marttunen T, Kaufmann T, Elvsåshagen T, Devor A, Djurovic S, Westlye LT, Linne ML, Rietschel M, Schubert D, Borgwardt S, Efrim-Budisteanu M, Bettella F, Halnes G, Hagen E, Næss S, Ness TV, Moberget T, Metzner C, Edwards AG, Fyhn M, Dale AM, Einevoll GT, Andreassen OA. Biophysical Psychiatry-How Computational Neuroscience Can Help to Understand the Complex Mechanisms of Mental Disorders. Front Psychiatry 2019; 10:534. [PMID: 31440172 PMCID: PMC6691488 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2018] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The brain is the most complex of human organs, and the pathophysiology underlying abnormal brain function in psychiatric disorders is largely unknown. Despite the rapid development of diagnostic tools and treatments in most areas of medicine, our understanding of mental disorders and their treatment has made limited progress during the last decades. While recent advances in genetics and neuroscience have a large potential, the complexity and multidimensionality of the brain processes hinder the discovery of disease mechanisms that would link genetic findings to clinical symptoms and behavior. This applies also to schizophrenia, for which genome-wide association studies have identified a large number of genetic risk loci, spanning hundreds of genes with diverse functionalities. Importantly, the multitude of the associated variants and their prevalence in the healthy population limit the potential of a reductionist functional genetics approach as a stand-alone solution to discover the disease pathology. In this review, we outline the key concepts of a "biophysical psychiatry," an approach that employs large-scale mechanistic, biophysics-founded computational modelling to increase transdisciplinary understanding of the pathophysiology and strive toward robust predictions. We discuss recent scientific advances that allow a synthesis of previously disparate fields of psychiatry, neurophysiology, functional genomics, and computational modelling to tackle open questions regarding the pathophysiology of heritable mental disorders. We argue that the complexity of the increasing amount of genetic data exceeds the capabilities of classical experimental assays and requires computational approaches. Biophysical psychiatry, based on modelling diseased brain networks using existing and future knowledge of basic genetic, biochemical, and functional properties on a single neuron to a microcircuit level, may allow a leap forward in deriving interpretable biomarkers and move the field toward novel treatment options.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuomo Mäki-Marttunen
- Department of Computational Physiology, Simula Research Laboratory, Oslo, Norway.,NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Tobias Kaufmann
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Torbjørn Elvsåshagen
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.,Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anna Devor
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.,Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.,Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States
| | - Srdjan Djurovic
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.,NORMENT, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Lars T Westlye
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.,Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Marja-Leena Linne
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Marcella Rietschel
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Dirk Schubert
- Cognitive Neuroscience Department, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Stefan Borgwardt
- Department of Psychiatry (UPK), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Magdalena Efrim-Budisteanu
- Prof. Dr. Alex. Obregia Clinical Hospital of Psychiatry, Bucharest, Romania.,Victor Babes National Institute of Pathology, Bucharest, Romania.,Faculty of Medicine, Titu Maiorescu University, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Francesco Bettella
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Geir Halnes
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Espen Hagen
- Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Solveig Næss
- Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Torbjørn V Ness
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
| | - Torgeir Moberget
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Christoph Metzner
- Centre for Computer Science and Informatics Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom.,Institute of Software Engineering and Theoretical Computer Science, Technische Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Andrew G Edwards
- Department of Computational Physiology, Simula Research Laboratory, Oslo, Norway
| | - Marianne Fyhn
- Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anders M Dale
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States.,Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Gaute T Einevoll
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.,Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- NORMENT, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
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