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Genetics of the Mind and Brain Disorders

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The Physics of the Mind and Brain Disorders

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Cognitive and Neural Systems ((SSCNS,volume 11))

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Abstract

In stark comparison to the elegance of mathematics, biology lies right at the edges of relative chaos, evading understanding at every turn often refusing to conform to theoretical hypotheses. To a biologist, this is the root of elegance. In particular, the irony of not being able to understand the mind remains enticing to both professional and amateur neuroscientists. Nevertheless, it would behoove the greater understanding of the mind and the disorders that afflict it to establish physical patterns. These can then be used in predicting the treatments that would be most effective.

Understanding of a system can begin with an understanding of its parts in a bottom-up approach. In the system of the mind, similar to any biological system, the “parts” can be the individual cells or organelles that make up a cell. We can also consider the fundamental parts the brain as genes in a code of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). A gene is the functional unit of heredity. The study of genetics encompasses both the structure and transmission of genes as well as the individual and combinatorial contributions of genes to development.

When the entirety of human DNA was sequenced by the Human Genome Project in 2003, the end of all genetic disorders, including the ones afflicting the brain, was predicted to be near. Despite the rapid increase in knowledge regarding the workings of genes, questions remain and cures are scarce to this day. While this is due in large part to the unpredicted complexity of gene networks, it is also reflective of the intricacy of the central nervous system (CNS). The CNS itself is a complicated system of networks that are spatiotemporally controlled and kept in balance by specific cell-to-cell contacts, neuromodulators, and electrical relays.

Yet, what is known today about disorders of the mind, and in particular the genetics behind them, provides many rich examples which we can explore to gain a deeper understanding of both of these topics. In this chapter, we will initially provide a perfunctory overview of genetics, and then delve into further detail by discussing two broad categories of genetic mind disorders: monogenic and polygenic. Throughout we will detail the biological forces driving both normal and abnormal neurodevelopment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Tatiana Popovitchenko & Mladen-Roko Rasin

  2. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, NJ, USA

    Mladen-Roko Rasin

Authors
  1. Tatiana Popovitchenko
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  2. Mladen-Roko Rasin
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Correspondence to Mladen-Roko Rasin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Department of Neurological Surgery, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Ioan Opris

  2. Greenville Health System, University of South Carolina, School of Medicine Greenville, Greenville, SC, USA

    Manuel F. Casanova

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Popovitchenko, T., Rasin, MR. (2017). Genetics of the Mind and Brain Disorders. In: Opris, I., Casanova, M.F. (eds) The Physics of the Mind and Brain Disorders. Springer Series in Cognitive and Neural Systems, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29674-6_28

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