The impact of schizophrenia genome-wide association study genes on neurocognition and social cognition : a behavioural study

Abstract

Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have established numerous previously unidentified variants associated with increased risk for schizophrenia (SZ). Exactly how most of these variants exert their influence remains largely unknown. Deficits in cognition and social cognition are core, stable, debilitating symptoms of psychotic disorders including SZ, and increased genetic risk for SZ is hypothesised to be at least partly mediated via a deleterious effect on these. This thesis aims to characterise the effects of GWAS identified SZ risk variants on variation in cognition and social cognition, based on analyses of both single variants and biological pathway specific polygenic risk.