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9 - Genetics and Family Influences on Olfaction: A Focus in Schizophrenia

from Section II - Social Functioning: Role of Evolution, Genetics and Gender

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2009

By
Raquelle Mesholam-Gately  and
Larry J. Seidman
Edited by
Warrick J. Brewer ,
David Castle  and
Christos Pantelis
Foreword by
Peter Doherty
Warrick J. Brewer
Affiliation:
Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, Melbourne
David Castle
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Christos Pantelis
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
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Summary

Introduction

Family or genetic ‘high-risk’ studies have described olfactory deficits in asymptomatic or non-fully symptomatic first-degree relatives (siblings, offspring, parents) of individuals diagnosed with a variety of neuropsychiatric diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (Schiffman et al., 2002; Serby et al., 1996), Parkinson's disease (Berendse et al., 2001; Montgomery et al., 1999), Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (Baker & Montgomery, 2001), and schizophrenia (Kopala et al., 1998; 2001; Moberg et al., 1996; Turetsky et al., 2003). The reader is referred to Chapters 13, 14 and 16 for further discussion of olfaction in Parkinsonian disorders and schizophrenia respectively. Such findings tempt a host of questions, which suggest that the assessment of olfaction in studies of persons at risk for illness has the potential to open the ‘window to the mind’ even wider ….

The study of olfaction as a biological marker or risk indicator for illness is in its infancy compared to established strategies such as studies of attention (Cornblatt & Keilp, 1994). However, a number of issues are raised by the presence of olfactory abnormalities in first-degree biological relatives. Does olfactory functioning provide clues to the genetic underpinnings of complex neuropsychiatric diseases? Can it represent a biological marker for a compromised neural system? If so, what role does it play within the relationship between genes, environmental influences and the clinical manifestations of neuropsychiatric illnesses?

Keywords

endophenotypesfamily high-risk studiesgenetic high-risk studiesolfactory systemschizophrenia
Type
Chapter
Information
Olfaction and the Brain , pp. 167 - 182
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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