Gene-Environment Interactions, Major Depressive Disorder and Traumatic Experiences

BrainPost, 28 January 2020

Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses in the world and Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD, is the most common clinically recognized form of depression. Previous research has identified that environmental factors influence the risk of developing MDD. For example, MDD is more commonly seen in people who report being exposed to stressful life events and trauma when they were younger. Twin studies have shown that there is also a heritable genetic component to MDD. Data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) – a way of examining hundreds of thousands of genetic markers across a set of DNA – can be used to estimate how common genetic variants contribute to this genetic predisposition. Few studies have focused on the genetic components of trauma and how this might affect depression. Further, there is evidence to suggest that reported trauma is heritable. Read more.