Abstract
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has long been recognized as being a highly heritable condition and our understanding of the genetic contributions to ADHD has grown over the past few decades. This chapter will discuss the studies that have examined its heritability and the efforts to identify specific genetic risk-variants at the molecular genetic level. We outline the various techniques that have been used to characterize genetic contributions to ADHD, describing what we have learnt so far, what there is still to learn and the methodologies that can be used to further our knowledge. In doing so we will discuss research into rare and common genetic variants, polygenic risk scores, and gene–environment interplay, while also describing what genetic studies have revealed about the biological processes involved in ADHD and what they have taught us about the overlap between ADHD and other psychiatric and somatic disorders. Finally, we will discuss the strengths and limitations of the current methodologies and clinical implications of genetic research to date.
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Abbreviations
- ADHD :
-
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
- ASD:
-
Autism spectrum disorder
- CNV:
-
Copy number variant
- DNA:
-
Deoxyribonucleic acid
- DSM-5:
-
Diagnostic and statistical manual of psychiatric disorders – fifth edition
- EAGLE:
-
EArly genetics and life course epidemiology (consortium)
- EWAS:
-
Epigenome-wide association studies
- GWAS:
-
Genome-wide association studies
- GWEIS:
-
Genome-wide environmental investigation studies
- GxE:
-
Gene–environment interactions
- ICD:
-
International classification of diseases
- ID:
-
Intellectual disability
- iPSYCH:
-
Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research
- MR:
-
Mendelian randomization
- mRNA:
-
Messenger ribonucleic acid
- PGC:
-
Psychiatric genomics consortium
- PRS:
-
Polygenic risk score
- rGE:
-
Gene environment correlations
- SNP:
-
Single nucleotide polymorphism
- VCFS:
-
Velo-cardio-facial syndrome
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Langley, K., Martin, J., Thapar, A. (2022). Genetics of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In: Stanford, S.C., Sciberras, E. (eds) New Discoveries in the Behavioral Neuroscience of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 57. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2022_338
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