Scientists Discover Genetic Predisposition to Anxiety

Researchers from Yale’s Department of Psychiatry studied the genetic profiles of more than a million participants enrolled in multiple cohorts around the world. Mining this vast dataset, they discovered more than 100 genes associated with anxiety.

The results were published in Genetics of nature.

Anxiety disorders and their symptoms affect many people and negatively impact their quality of life. Understanding their genetic predisposition may have major implications for the development of more effective therapies and treatments aimed at reducing the adverse consequences of anxiety.

“This effort highlights the power of large-scale genetic studies to unpack the complex pathogenesis of anxiety, demonstrating how multiple genes acting on different brain functions help define individual genetic risk,” said Renato Polimanti, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study.

“These results open new possibilities for understanding the molecular basis of psychopathology and assessing the mechanisms responsible for the comorbidity between anxiety and other negative health outcomes.”

By integrating genetic information with other molecular features, scientists have understood how genes can act on different brain structures to increase the risk of developing anxiety disorders and symptoms. They have also observed that some genes associated with anxiety may also predispose to other mental illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Consistent with the comorbidity of anxiety with physical health, the study also demonstrated that genetic risk for anxiety is also correlated with non-psychiatric disorders. In particular, the strongest evidence was observed for gastrointestinal disorders and pain-related outcomes.

“By studying anxiety disorders in five different backgrounds for the first time, we were able to uncover the genetic architecture of anxiety disorders with more power of genetic association,” said Eleni Friligkou, MD, a psychiatry resident in the Neuroscience Research Training Program and first author of the study.

“Our efforts highlight the importance of increasing diversity in genetic studies to better understand ancestry-specific correlates of anxiety disorders, but also to harness the power of cross-ancestry genetic discovery.”