Researchers recently discovered that eight different psychiatric conditions share a common genetic basis. A new study has now honed in on some of those shared genetic variants to understand their properties. They found many are active for longer during brain development and potentially impact multiple stages, suggesting they could be new targets to treat multiple conditions.

"The proteins produced by these genes are also highly connected to other proteins," explains University of North Carolina geneticist Hyejung Won. "Changes to these proteins in particular could ripple through the network, potentially causing widespread effects on the brain."

In 2019 an international team of researchers identified 109 genes that were associated in different combinations with eight different psychiatric disorders, including autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anorexia.

This may explain why so many of these conditions present with similar symptoms or turn up together, like the link between autism and ADHD. Up to 70 percent of people who have one have the other too, and they often both show up in the same families.