Biomarkers of intergenerational risk for depression: a review of mechanisms in longitudinal high-risk (LHR) studies.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Longitudinal research is critical for understanding the biological mechanisms underlying the development of depression. Researchers recruit high-risk cohorts to understand how risk is transmitted from one generation to the next. Biological measurements have been incorporated into these longitudinal high-risk (LHR) studies in order to illuminate mechanistic pathways.

Methods

To frame our review, we first present heritability estimates along the gene-by-environment continuum as a foundation. We then offer a Biomarkers of Intergenerational Risk for Depression (BIRD) model to describe the multiple hits individuals at risk receive and to allow for greater focus on the interactive effects of markers. BIRD allows for the known multifinality of pathways towards depression

SUBMITTER: Jacobs RH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4405143 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature