Genetics

This Is Not Your Mother’s Alzheimer’s Disease

People often worry they will get Alzheimer’s disease if their parents did. But engaging in a healthy lifestyle can outweigh the impact of genetics for Alzheimer’s disease.

Very Different Psychiatric Diagnoses Share Common Genes

A recent study of a million people with 14 psychiatric disorders showed these disorders fell into five genetic clusters. Addiction may be one disease, not a moral failing.

The Map of Depression Risk

Imagine the brain as an atlas of possibilities and risks. Genetic variants linked to depression affect its shape, subtly steering lives toward vulnerability. Small changes matter.

How Mental Illness Leaves Its Mark on the Brain

Mental illness is often described in abstract terms, but is rooted in the brain. A study reveals that genes influencing psychiatric disorders also shape brain architecture.

Top 2025 Addiction Research Articles

These are the 15 most compelling addiction research studies describing 2025's insights, innovations, and opportunities improving prevention, theory, treatment, and outcomes.

Schizophrenia Is Costly, So Why Didn’t Evolution Remove It?

The cliff-edge model may explain evolutionary paradoxes such as schizophrenia.

The Whys of Cannabis Self-Medication

Liking, wanting, and craving cannabis come from genetics, stress vulnerability, and the desire to "treat" depression, anxiety, anhedonia, and chronic pain—all risks for cannabis use disorder.

Genetics, Environment, and Personality

How evidence from behavioral genetics challenges traditional assumptions about personality and psychotherapy.

The Nature and Nurture of Child Surgency

Children who are impulsive and exuberant can be challenging. Recent research speaks to both the nature and nurture aspects of this trait, known as "surgency."

Gratitude and Huntington's Disease

Personal Perspective: This Thanksgiving, the Huntington's Disease community has reason to celebrate.

How Much Do Your Sex Chromosomes Really Determine?

Inspecting a century-long chromosomal mix-up between correlation and causation.

When One Twin Has Turner Syndrome

Twin research tells us many things about the biological and behavioral aspects of diseases like Turner syndrome and how they affect the evolving twin relationship.

This One Conversation Could Save Your Life

Gathering your family health history from extended family members can increase your motivation to engage in a healthy lifestyle, improve your health care, and extend your life.

Kelly Pierce, a successful teck professional, overcame dyslexia as an adult.

Dyslexia: A Different Way of Thinking With Cognitive Strength

This tech team facilitator with dyslexia embraced and championed her cognitive gifts and achieved professional success.

Why Some People Never Have Sex

There may be a genetic basis for sexlessness.

Transitioning to Donor Conception With Your Partner

Transitioning from infertility to donor conception can affect both partners in a couple differently. Acceptance is the key to staying connected.

A Surprising Link Between Mono and MS

For decades, experts have suspected that Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), known for causing mononucleosis, might also be involved in triggering multiple sclerosis (MS). Recent research strongly supports this theory.

How Genetic Mirroring Shapes Identity

Genetic mirroring gives adoptees and foster youth reflections of self. Without it, identity feels like a blank mirror, fueling confusion, loss, and a lifelong search for belonging.

How Biology Shapes Reality in Schizophrenia and Bipolar

An overview of how genetics associated with schizophrenia and bipolar can influence how cells communicate, ultimately influencing a person’s thoughts.

Are Some Destined to Be Smart?

Are we destined to be smart? Twin studies reveal strong genetic roots for IQ, yet up to a third of intelligence is shaped by environment, context, and choice.

Gene Therapy Offers New Hope for Huntington’s Disease Patients

Stunning success in halting Huntington's disease with gene therapy offers new hope to those with the disorder—and potential advances against Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Incoming: New Era of Child Choosing Approaches

In Silicon Valley, "designer embryos" are redefine parenting—will you be next?

The Liability-Threshold Polygenic Model of Left-Handedness

Recent studies have shown that the genetics of left-handedness are more complex than previously thought. The liability-threshold polygenic model aims to explain them.

Rethinking Depression: Beyond Chemical Imbalance

When depression takes hold, the on/off switches controlling genes in our brain change in subtle yet decisive ways.

What Really Causes Autism and What We Should Do About It

Vaccines do not cause autism, but new genetic mutations, pesticides, various infections, and maternal diseases do, and we need to understand and address these better.

Will Donor Conception Worries Ever Resolve?

It is common to have fears that donor conception concerns will dominate your parenting life. The truth is that fears typically fade with time and as you bond with your child.