Research
Our research focuses on elucidating the neurobiological and genetic roots of major mental illnesses through the integration of cognitive neuropsychological, functional and structural neuroimaging, and behavioral and molecular genetic approaches. The ultimate goals of this research is the identification of genes involved in affective and psychotic illnesses as well as genes that influence non-pathological brain structure and function. Localization of genes involved in mental illness should significantly contribute to an understanding of the underlying biology of these complex diseases, which in turn should improve future treatments and create the potential for prevention strategies.
While there are many approaches to identifying genes involved in mental illness, our laboratory develops quantitative measures of brain structure and function that are sensitive to genetic risk for affective and psychotic illnesses and applies these measures in large-scale genetics studies. These measures, often referred to as endophenotypes, may be less genetically complex than brain-related illnesses them selves and can be assessed in affected and unaffected individuals alike. Indeed, a recent National Institute of Health (NIH) panel concluded that the use of quantitative endophenotypes should significantly improve our ability to identify genes for mental illness. Currently, Dr. Glahn leads three major NIH funded studies designed to identify genes influencing brain anatomy, physiology and neurocognition in randomly ascertained families or in individuals with bipolar disorder and their well siblings. Thus, our laboratory is currently active in the following areas:
