A major international study has uncovered deep genetic connections between brain disorders once thought to be completely separate.
Scientists from the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital have found that neurological conditions like migraine, stroke, and epilepsy share many of the same genetic risk factors as psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression.
The findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, are reshaping how doctors and researchers think about mental and neurological…
For decades, medicine has divided brain conditions into two main fields: neurology, which studies physical brain disorders such as stroke or epilepsy, and psychiatry, which focuses on mental illnesses like depression or schizophrenia.
Traditionally, these fields were treated as unrelated. Neurologists dealt with diseases that could be seen on scans, while psychiatrists focused on symptoms of mood and thought.
But the new research shows that this boundary may be artificial — and that both kinds of disorders may share similar biological roots.
Dr. Olav Bjerkehagen Smeland, a psychiatrist and lead author of the study, said, “We found that psychiatric and neurological disorders share genetic risk factors to a greater extent than previously recognized.
This suggests that they may partly arise from the same underlying biology.” In other words, some of the same genes that increase the risk for neurological conditions might also play a role in mental illnesses.
The study analyzed genetic data from nearly one million people worldwide, making it one of the largest studies of its kind. The massive dataset included individuals with a wide range of brain-related conditions, from migraine and multiple sclerosis to depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
By comparing genetic markers across these disorders, the team identified overlapping genetic patterns as well as disease-specific ones.
Professor Ole Andreassen, who leads the Center for Precision Psychiatry at the University of Oslo, said the results make sense when compared to what doctors see in real life. “Patients often show symptoms that overlap across neurology and psychiatry,” he explained. “Our findings support a more unified view of brain disorders.”
While the study confirmed that there are shared genetic risks, it also found that each disorder has unique biological signatures. For example, genes linked to stroke were related to problems with blood clotting, while genes tied to epilepsy affected neurons — the brain’s nerve cells that transmit electrical signals.
Genetic risks for Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis were connected to the immune system, showing how inflammation and immune activity can influence brain health. Meanwhile, psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and depression were strongly connected to changes in neurons and synapses, the connections between brain cells.
Dr. Smeland explained that this pattern shows both the diversity and the connection among brain disorders. “These conditions are not identical, but they share a common biological framework,” he said. “Understanding these shared mechanisms could help us develop better treatments that target both neurological and psychiatric symptoms.”
The researchers believe their findings could have major implications for how brain disorders are diagnosed and treated. In many healthcare systems, neurology and psychiatry operate separately, with little communication between specialists.
But this study suggests that a more integrated approach could lead to better care. “We should ask whether patients receive the best treatment when neurology and psychiatry operate in parallel rather than together,” Smeland said.
The results also open the door to precision medicine for brain disorders — personalized treatments based on a patient’s unique genetic makeup. If doctors can understand how specific genes affect both the mind and the brain, they may one day predict which treatments will work best for each person.
Experts say that the study highlights a shift in thinking about mental health and neurological disease. Rather than seeing them as separate, it’s becoming clear that they are two sides of the same coin. Future research may help uncover shared biological pathways that can be targeted with new medications or therapies.
In reviewing the findings, it’s clear that this research represents a major step toward a more holistic understanding of brain health. By showing that genetic risk factors overlap between neurological and psychiatric illnesses, the study challenges outdated boundaries in medicine.
However, it also raises new questions — for instance, how much of this overlap comes from shared genes versus environmental or lifestyle factors? And how can this knowledge be used to create more effective, integrated treatments?
While more research is needed, one thing is certain: this discovery moves us closer to a world where mental and neurological disorders are understood not as separate problems, but as interconnected aspects of the same organ — the brain.
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The study is published in Nature Neuroscience.
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