EMPIRICAL QUANTITATIVE APPROACHES FOR PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS PHENOTYPES

摘要

Psychiatric phenotypes as currently defined are primarily the result of clinical consensus criteria rather than empirical research. A novel approach to characterizing psychiatric phenotypes is presented herein, termed PhenoChipping. A massive parallel profiling of cognitive and affective state is done with a PhenoChip composed of a battery of existing and new quantitative psychiatric rating scales, as well as hand neuromotor measures. Phenotypic overlap among, as well as phenotypic heterogeneity within, the three major psychotic disorders studied were demonstrated. Empirically derived clusterings of (endo)phenotypes and of patients serve genetic, pharmacological, and imaging research, as well as clinical practice.