Genes Linked to Alzheimer’s, Mental Illness Found in Newborn Brain Scans

Some brain changes found in adults with common gene variants linked to disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and autism also can be seen in the brain scans of newborns.

“These results suggest that prenatal brain development may be a very important influence on psychiatric risk later in life,” says Rebecca C. Knickmeyer, PhD, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Research results were published in the Jan. 3, 2013, edition of the journal Cerebral Cortex. For more information, click here to read the full release.