Pharmacogenomics of antipsychotics efficacy for schizophrenia

Identification of risk variants and cross-disorder pleiotropy through multi-ancestry genome-wide analysis of alcohol use disorder

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is highly heritable and burdensome worldwide. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) can provide new evidence regarding the aetiology of AUD. We report a multi-ancestry GWAS focusing on a narrow AUD phenotype, using novel statistical tools in a total sample of 1,041,450 individuals [102,079 cases; European, 75,583; African, 20,689 (mostly African-American); Hispanic American, 3,449; East Asian, 2,254; South Asian, 104; descent]. Cross-ancestry functional analyses were performed with European and African samples. Thirty-seven genome-wide significant loci (105 variants) were identified, of which seven were novel for AUD and six for other alcohol phenotypes. Loci were mapped to genes, which show altered expression in brain regions relevant for AUD (striatum, hypothalamus, and prefrontal cortex) and encode potential drug targets (GABAergic, dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons). African-specific analysis yielded a unique pattern of immune-related gene sets. Polygenic overlap and positive genetic correlations showed extensive shared genetic architecture between AUD and both mental and general medical phenotypes, suggesting they are not only complications of alcohol use but also share genetic liability with AUD. Leveraging a cross-ancestry approach allowed identification of novel genetic loci for AUD and underscores the value of multi-ancestry genetic studies. These findings advance our understanding of AUD risk and clinically-relevant comorbidities.

Pharmacogenetics of Antipsychotic Treatment in Schizophrenia

Antipsychotics are the mainstay treatment for schizophrenia. There is large variability between individuals in their response to antipsychotics, both in efficacy and adverse effects of treatment. While the source of interindividual variability in antipsychotic response is not completely understood, genetics is a major contributing factor. The identification of pharmacogenetic markers that predict antipsychotic efficacy and adverse reactions is a growing area of research and holds the potential to replace the current trial-and-error approach to treatment selection in schizophrenia with a personalized medicine approach.In this chapter, we provide an overview of the current state of pharmacogenetics in schizophrenia treatment. The most promising pharmacogenetic findings are presented for both antipsychotic response and commonly studied adverse reactions. The application of pharmacogenetics to schizophrenia treatment is discussed, with an emphasis on the clinical utility of pharmacogenetic testing and directions for future research.

Pharmacogenomic Studies in Intellectual Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND

Individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often receive psychotropic medications such as antipsychotics and antidepressants to treat aberrant behaviors and mood symptoms, frequently resulting in polypharmacy and drug-related adverse effects. Pharmacogenomic (PGx) studies with ASD and/or ID (ASD/ID) have been scarce despite the promise of optimizing treatment outcomes. We reviewed the literature on PGx studies with antipsychotics and antidepressants (e.g., treatment response and adverse effects) in ASD/ID.

METHODS

We performed a systematic review using MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO, including peer-reviewed original articles in English referring to PGx in the treatment of ASD/ID in any age groups (e.g., treatment response and adverse effects).

RESULTS

A total of 28 PGx studies using mostly candidate gene approaches were identified across age groups. Notably, only 3 studies included adults with ASD/ID while the other 25 studies focused specifically on children/adolescents with ASD/ID. Twelve studies primarily investigated treatment response, of which 5 and 6 studies included patients treated with antipsychotics and antidepressants, respectively. Most interesting results for response were reported for 2 sets of candidate gene studies, namely: (1) The DRD3 Ser9Gly (rs6280) polymorphism was examined in patients treated with risperidone in 3 studies, 2 of which reported an association with risperidone treatment response and (2) the SLC6A4 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and treatment response to antidepressants which was investigated in 4 studies, 3 of which reported significant associations. In regard to side effects, 9 of 15 studies focused on hyperprolactinemia in patients treated with risperidone. Among them, 7 and 5 studies examined the impact of CYP2D6 and DRD2 Taq1A polymorphisms, respectively, yielding mostly negative study findings.

CONCLUSIONS

There is limited data available on PGx in individuals with ASD/ID and in particular in adults. Given the potential for PGx testing in improving treatment outcomes, additional PGx studies for psychotropic treatment in ASD/ID across age groups are warranted.

Monoamine Oxidase as a Potential Biomarker of the Efficacy of Treatment of Mental Disorders

The review summarizes the results of our own studies and published data on the biological markers of psychiatric disorders, with special emphasis on the activity of platelet monoamine oxidase. Pharmacotherapy studies in patients with the mixed anxiety-depressive disorder and first episode of schizophrenia have shown that the activity of platelet monoamine oxidase could serve as a potential biomarker of the efficacy of therapeutic interventions in these diseases.

Olanzapine-Associated Rhabdomyolysis: A Case Report

This paper presents the case of a 20-year-old patient with a suspected diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. He was prescribed oral olanzapine at a dose of 10 mg per day, and the treatment was associated with rhabdomyolysis (serum creatine kinase = 9,725 U/L on day four of the therapy). On suspicion of its contribution to rhabdomyolysis, olanzapine was immediately withdrawn. Pharmacogenetic testing demonstrated that the patient’s CYP2D6 genotype was *4/*4 (1846G>A, rs3892097). Based on these results, the patient was switched to trifluoperazine, a medication that is not metabolized by the CYP2D6 isoenzyme. Subsequently, the patient recovered well and was discharged without any nephrological sequelae. The presented case demonstrates that pharmacogenetic‐guided personalization of treatment may allow selecting the best medication and determining the right dosage, resulting in the reduced risk of adverse drug reactions and pharmacoresistance.

Alcohol intake potentiates clozapine adverse effects associated to CYP1A2*1C in patients with refractory psychosis

Clozapine (CLZ) is an atypical antipsychotic and the gold standard for refractory psychosis treatment. However, there is little information regarding pharmacogenetics of CLZ in patients with refractory psychosis and its clinical correlation with alcohol intake. Although neurological effects of CLZ in patients with concomitant alcohol intake are documented, its use is very common in patients with psychosis. We explored the impact of CYP1A2, CYP2D6, CYP2C19, and CYP3A4 genetic variants on CLZ pharmacokinetics and side effects, along with coffee/alcohol/tobacco consumption habits and clinical data of 48 adult patients with refractory psychosis on CLZ antipsychotic monotherapy. Relevant CYP variants in CLZ metabolism were evaluated by targeted genotyping and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification. CLZ and its main metabolite plasma concentrations were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Biochemical and molecular data, along with other potential confounders, were included in the analysis by linear regression. Overall, CYP variants showed no effect on CLZ pharmacokinetics. The rs2069514 variant in homozygous genotype (also known as CYP1A2*1C/*1C) was associated with CLZ adverse reactions in Mexican patients with refractory psychosis (OR = 3.55 CI₉₅  = 1.041-12.269, p = .043) and demonstrated that this effect is doubled by concomitant alcohol consumption (OR = 7.9 CI₉₅  = 1.473-42.369, p = .016). Clinicians should be aware of this information before starting CLZ use, when treating patients with refractory psychosis, who are alcohol drinkers and carriers of this genetic variant in order to prevent CLZ-related adverse reactions. Nevertheless, our findings should be replicated in larger samples.

Pharmacogenetics of Antipsychotic Drug Treatment: Update and Clinical Implications

Numerous genetic variants have been shown to be associated with antipsychotic response and adverse effects of schizophrenia treatment. However, the clinical application of these findings is limited. The aim of this narrative review is to summarize the most recent publications and recommendations related to the genetics of antipsychotic treatment and shed light on the clinical utility of pharmacogenetics/pharmacogenomics (PGx). We reviewed the literature on PGx studies with antipsychotic drugs (i.e., antipsychotic response and adverse effects) and commonly used commercial PGx tools for clinical practice. Publications and reviews were included with emphasis on articles published between January 2015 and April 2018. We found 44 studies focusing on antipsychotic response and 45 studies on adverse effects (e.g., antipsychotic-induced weight gain, movement disorders, hormonal abnormality, and clozapine-induced agranulocytosis/granulocytopenia), albeit with mixed results. Overall, several gene variants related to antipsychotic response and adverse effects in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia have been reported, and several commercial pharmacogenomic tests have become available. However, further well-designed investigations and replication studies in large and well-characterized samples are needed to facilitate the application of PGx findings to clinical practice.

Pharmacogenetic tests for antipsychotic medications: clinical implications and considerations

Optimizing antipsychotic pharmacotherapy is often challenging due to significant variability in effectiveness and tolerability. Genetic factors influencing pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics may contribute to some of this variability. Research studies have characterized these pharmacogenetic relationships, and some genetic markers are now available as clinical tests. These advances in pharmacogenetics research and test availability have great potential to improve clinical outcomes and quality of life in psychiatric patients. For clinicians considering using pharmacogenetics, it is important to understand the clinical implications and also the limitations of markers included in currently available tests. This review focuses on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic gene variants that are currently available in commercial genetic testing panels. Associations of these variants with clinical efficacy and adverse effects, as well as other clinical implications, in antipsychotic pharmacotherapy are discussed.

rs7968606 polymorphism of ANKS1B is associated with improvement in the PANSS general score of schizophrenia caused by amisulpride

A recent genome-wide pharmacogenomics study showed that the rs7968606 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the ankyrin repeat and sterile alpha motif domain-containing protein 1B (ANKS1B) gene approached the threshold of statistical significance. The aim of this study was to determine the association between the rs7968606 SNP of ANKS1B and the treatment response to amisulpride in schizophrenia patients. In total, 154 participants were enrolled from six university hospitals in Korea. All the subjects were interviewed before and after 6 weeks of amisulpride treatment with the aid of the positive and negative syndrome scale and the clinical global impression-severity scale. Genotyping for the rs7968606 SNP of ANKS1B was performed in 101 subjects. Both the decrease (t = -2.067, p = 0.041) and improvement rate (t = -1.990, p = 0.049) in the positive and negative syndrome scale general score differed significantly between T-allele carriers and noncarriers of this polymorphism after 6 weeks of amisulpride treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first genetic association study of the relationship between the rs7968606 SNP of ANKS1B and the response of schizophrenia patients to treatment with amisulpride. Future larger-scale studies involving more SNPs of ANKS1B will improve the understanding of the pharmacogenetics underlying the treatment responses to amisulpride.

Pharmacogenetics and outcome with antipsychotic drugs

Antipsychotic medications are the gold-standard treatment for schizophrenia, and are often prescribed for other mental conditions. However, the efficacy and side-effect profiles of these drugs are heterogeneous, with large interindividual variability. As a result, treatment selection remains a largely trial-and-error process, with many failed treatment regimens endured before finding a tolerable balance between symptom management and side effects. Much of the interindividual variability in response and side effects is due to genetic factors (heritability, h²~ 0.60-0.80). Pharmacogenetics is an emerging field that holds the potential to facilitate the selection of the best medication for a particular patient, based on his or her genetic information. In this review we discuss the most promising genetic markers of antipsychotic treatment outcomes, and present current translational research efforts that aim to bring these pharmacogenetic findings to the clinic in the near future.

Pharmacogenetics of antipsychotic-induced movement disorders as a resource for better understanding Parkinson's disease modifier genes

Antipsychotic-induced movement disorders are major side effects of antipsychotic drugs among schizophrenia patients, and include antipsychotic-induced parkinsonism (AIP) and tardive dyskinesia (TD). Substantial pharmacogenetic work has been done in this field, and several susceptibility variants have been suggested. In this paper, the genetics of antipsychotic-induced movement disorders is considered in a broader context. We hypothesize that genetic variants that are risk factors for AIP and TD may provide insights into the pathophysiology of motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Since loss of dopaminergic stimulation (albeit pharmacological in AIP and degenerative in PD) is shared by the two clinical entities, genes associated with susceptibility to AIP may be modifier genes that influence clinical expression of PD motor sub-phenotypes, such as age at onset, disease severity, or rate of progression. This is due to their possible functional influence on compensatory mechanisms for striatal dopamine loss. Better compensatory potential might be beneficial at the early and later stages of the PD course. AIP vulnerability variants could also be related to latent impairment in the nigrostriatal pathway, affecting its functionality, and leading to subclinical dopaminergic deficits in the striatum. Susceptibility of PD patients to early development of l-DOPA induced dyskinesia (LID) is an additional relevant sub-phenotype. LID might share a common genetic background with TD, with which it shares clinical features. Genetic risk variants may predispose to both phenotypes, exerting a pleiotropic effect. According to this hypothesis, elucidating the genetics of antipsychotic-induced movement disorders may advance our understanding of multiple aspects of PD and it clinical course, rendering this a potentially rewarding field of study.

[What criteria for an ideal antipsychotic treatment?]

Antipsychotics are, by definition, drugs to treat all symptomatic dimensions of schizophrenia, even if, following the discovery of chlorpromazine, the effect assessment has been focused on the ability to reduce positive symptoms. Nevertheless, expectations of treatment are no longer limited to only support this one dimension, but integrate the need to treat negative, cognitive and affective symptoms, through long-term modulation of dopamine transmission but also non-dopaminergic pathways. Beyond symptomatic treatment, it is also necessary to have a treatment modifying the evolution course of the disease (disease modifier), acting by a long-term effect on neuropathological and neurochemical abnormalities. The limitation of long-term effect remains the issue of therapeutic observance. Moreover, this concern for efficiency should be at the cost of reduced induction of adverse effects to maximize the benefit/risk ratio. All these dimensions should the components to profile an ideal antipsychotic treatment in 2015.

Pharmacogenetics of antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia

Antipsychotics are the mainstay treatment for schizophrenia. There is large variability between individuals in their response to antipsychotics, both in efficacy and adverse effects of treatment. While the source of interindividual variability in antipsychotic response is not completely understood, genetics is a major contributing factor. The identification of pharmacogenetic markers that predict antipsychotic efficacy and adverse reactions is a growing area of research, and holds the potential to replace the current trial-and-error approach to treatment selection in schizophrenia with a personalized medicine approach.In this chapter, we provide an overview of the current state of pharmacogenetics in schizophrenia treatment. The most promising pharmacogenetic findings are presented for both antipsychotic response and commonly studied adverse reactions. The application of pharmacogenetics to schizophrenia treatment is discussed, with an emphasis on the clinical utility of pharmacogenetic testing and directions for future research.

AKAP13, CACNA1, GRIK4 and GRIA1 genetic variations may be associated with haloperidol efficacy during acute treatment

We previously investigated a sample of psychotic patients acutely ill and acutely treated with haloperidol in the search for genetic predictors of response at PANSS scores during the first month of treatment. In the present work we extend the analysis to a wider panel of genetic variations including SNPs harbored by genes whose products are involved in molecular pathways consistent with the latest results of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of antipsychotic efficacy. 96 Patients were investigated. The results were replicated in an independent sample of bipolar manic patients treated with antipsychotics (n tot=470, the sample was retrieved from the STEP-BD). Outcomes were the PANSS variation through time in the first sample, and changes of mania symptomatology at any two consecutive observations in the public available STEP-BD replication sample. A list of variations harbored by AKAP13, CACNA1, GRIK4 and GRIA1 were found to be significantly associated with outcome in both samples (different set of variations for each sample). Results did not survived multiple testing in the original sample but were replicated in both samples. This finding stresses the relevance of the glutamatergic system and regulatory molecular cascades in antipsychotic response. Nonetheless, the level of significance and the indirect and incomplete replication mandate cautiousness and further replication.

Pharmacogenomics can improve antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a widespread mental disease with a prevalence of about 1% in the world population, and heritability of up to 80%. Drug therapy is an important approach to treating the disease. However, the curative effect of antipsychotic is far from satisfactory in terms of tolerability and side effects. Many studies have indicated that about 30% of the patients exhibit little or no improvements associated with antipsychotics. The response of individual patients who are given the same dose of the same drug varies considerably. In addition, antipsychotic drugs are often accompanied by adverse drug reactions (ADRs), which can cause considerable financial loss in addition to the obvious societal harm. So, it is strongly recommended that personalized medicine should be implemented both to improve drug efficacy and to minimize adverse events and toxicity. There is therefore a need for pharmacogenomic studies into the factors affecting response of schizophrenia patients to antipsychotic drugs to provide informed guidance for clinicians. Individual differences in drug response is due to a combination of many complex factors including ADEM (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion) process, transporting, binding with receptor and intracellular signal transduction. Pharmacogenetic and pharmacogenomic studies have successfully identified genetic variants that contribute to this interindividual variability in antipsychotics response. In addition, epigenetic factors such as methylation of DNA and regulation by miRNA have also been reported to play an important role in the complex interactions between the multiple genes and environmental factors which influence individual drug response phenotypes in patients. In this review, we will focus on the latest research on polymorphisms of candidate genes that code for drug metabolic enzymes (CYP2D6, CYP1A2, CYP3A4, etc.), drug transporters (mainly ABCB1) and neurotransmitter receptors (dopamine receptors and serotonin receptors, etc.). We also discuss the genome-wide pharmacogenomic study of schizophrenia and review the current state of knowledge on epigenetics and potential clinical applications.

Comparing tolerability of olanzapine in schizophrenia and affective disorders: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Olanzapine is prescribed for a number of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar mania, and unipolar and bipolar depression. Olanzapine treatment is associated with tolerability issues such as metabolic adverse effects (e.g. weight gain, increase in blood glucose, triglycerides and total cholesterol levels), extrapyramidal symptoms [EPS] (e.g. parkinsonism, akathisia, tardive dyskinesia) and sedative adverse effects. Metabolic issues lead to some long-term consequences, which include cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus, and these complications cause high rates of mortality and morbidity among patients with severe mental illnesses. The expanded indications of olanzapine in psychiatry suggest a need to investigate whether there is a difference in the incidence and severity of adverse effects related to category diagnosis. Are the adverse effects expressed differently according to phenotype? Unfortunately, there are no reported studies that investigated these differences in adverse effects associated with olanzapine treatment in psychiatric patients with different phenotypes.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present meta-analysis is to separately examine olanzapine-induced cardiometabolic adverse effects and EPS in patients with schizophrenia and affective disorders.

DATA SOURCES

A search of computerized literature databases PsycINFO (1967-2010), PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE (1980-2010) and the clinicaltrials.gov website for randomized clinical trials was conducted. A manual search of reference lists of published review articles was carried out to gather further data.

STUDY SELECTION

Randomized controlled trials were included in our study if (i) they assessed olanzapine adverse effects (metabolic or extrapyramidal) in adult patients with schizophrenia or affective disorders; and (ii) they administered oral olanzapine as monotherapy during study.

DATA EXTRACTION

Two reviewers independently screened abstracts for choosing articles and one reviewer extracted relevant data on the basis of predetermined exclusion and inclusion criteria. It should be mentioned that for the affective disorders group we could only find articles related to bipolar disorder.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Thirty-three studies (4831 patients) that address olanzapine monotherapy treatment of adults with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder were included in the analysis. The primary outcomes were metabolic adverse effects (changes in weight, blood glucose, low-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels). The secondary outcomes of our study were assessing the incidence of some EPS (parkinsonism, akathisia and use of antiparkinson medication). The tolerability outcomes were calculated separately for the schizophrenia and bipolar disorder groups and were combined in a meta-analysis. Tolerability outcomes show that olanzapine contributes to weight gain and elevates blood triglycerides, glucose and total cholesterol levels in both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients. However, olanzapine treatment produced significantly more weight gain in schizophrenia patients than in bipolar disorder patients. In addition, increases in blood glucose, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were higher in the schizophrenia group compared with the bipolar disorder group, even though these differences were not statistically significant. Based on our results, the incidence of parkinsonism was significantly higher in the schizophrenia group than in the bipolar disorder group. Subgroup analysis and logistic regression were used to assess the influence of treatment duration, dose, industry sponsorship, age and sex ratio on tolerability outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that schizophrenia patients may be more vulnerable to olanzapine-induced weight gain. The findings may be explained by considering the fact that in addition to genetic disposition for metabolic syndrome in schizophrenia patients, they have an especially high incidence of lifestyle risk factors for CVD, such as poor diet, lack of exercise, stress and smoking. It might be that an antipsychotic induces severity of adverse effect according to the phenotype.

Systems biology, bioinformatics, and biomarkers in neuropsychiatry

Although neuropsychiatric (NP) disorders are among the top causes of disability worldwide with enormous financial costs, they can still be viewed as part of the most complex disorders that are of unknown etiology and incomprehensible pathophysiology. The complexity of NP disorders arises from their etiologic heterogeneity and the concurrent influence of environmental and genetic factors. In addition, the absence of rigid boundaries between the normal and diseased state, the remarkable overlap of symptoms among conditions, the high inter-individual and inter-population variations, and the absence of discriminative molecular and/or imaging biomarkers for these diseases makes difficult an accurate diagnosis. Along with the complexity of NP disorders, the practice of psychiatry suffers from a "top-down" method that relied on symptom checklists. Although checklist diagnoses cost less in terms of time and money, they are less accurate than a comprehensive assessment. Thus, reliable and objective diagnostic tools such as biomarkers are needed that can detect and discriminate among NP disorders. The real promise in understanding the pathophysiology of NP disorders lies in bringing back psychiatry to its biological basis in a systemic approach which is needed given the NP disorders' complexity to understand their normal functioning and response to perturbation. This approach is implemented in the systems biology discipline that enables the discovery of disease-specific NP biomarkers for diagnosis and therapeutics. Systems biology involves the use of sophisticated computer software "omics"-based discovery tools and advanced performance computational techniques in order to understand the behavior of biological systems and identify diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers specific for NP disorders together with new targets of therapeutics. In this review, we try to shed light on the need of systems biology, bioinformatics, and biomarkers in neuropsychiatry, and illustrate how the knowledge gained through these methodologies can be translated into clinical use providing clinicians with improved ability to diagnose, manage, and treat NP patients.

Psychiatric pharmacogenomics in pediatric psychopharmacology

This article provides an overview of where psychiatric pharmacogenomic testing stands as an emerging clinical tool in modern psychotropic prescribing practice, specifically in the pediatric population. This practical discussion is organized around the state of psychiatric pharmacogenomics research when choosing psychopharmacologic interventions in the most commonly encountered mental illnesses in youth. As with the rest of the topics on psychopharmacology for children and adolescents in this publication, a clinical vignette is presented, this one highlighting a clinical case of a 16 year old genotyped during hospitalization for recalcitrant depression.

Clinical applications of schizophrenia genetics: genetic diagnosis, risk, and counseling in the molecular era

Schizophrenia is a complex neuropsychiatric disease with documented clinical and genetic heterogeneity, and evidence for neurodevelopmental origins. Driven by new genetic technologies and advances in molecular medicine, there has recently been concrete progress in understanding some of the specific genetic causes of this serious psychiatric illness. In particular, several large rare structural variants have been convincingly associated with schizophrenia, in targeted studies over two decades with respect to 22q11.2 microdeletions, and more recently in large-scale, genome-wide case-control studies. These advances promise to help many families afflicted with this disease. In this review, we critically appraise recent developments in the field of schizophrenia genetics through the lens of immediate clinical applicability. Much work remains in translating the recent surge of genetic research discoveries into the clinic. The epidemiology and basic genetic parameters (such as penetrance and expression) of most genomic disorders associated with schizophrenia are not yet well characterized. To date, 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is the only established genetic subtype of schizophrenia of proven clinical relevance. We use this well-established association as a model to chart the pathway for translating emerging genetic discoveries into clinical practice. We also propose new directions for research involving general genetic risk prediction and counseling in schizophrenia.

The genetics of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia: a phenomic perspective

Cognitive impairments are central to schizophrenia and could mark underlying biological dysfunction but efforts to detect genetic associations for schizophrenia or cognitive phenotypes have been disappointing. Phenomics strategies emphasizing simultaneous study of multiple phenotypes across biological scales might help, particularly if the high heritabilities of schizophrenia and cognitive impairments are due to large numbers of genetic variants with small effect. Convergent evidence is reviewed, and a new collaborative knowledgebase - CogGene - is introduced to share data about genetic associations with cognitive phenotypes, and enable users to meta-analyze results interactively. CogGene data demonstrate the need for larger studies with broader representation of cognitive phenotypes. Given that meta-analyses will probably be necessary to detect the small association signals linking the genome and cognitive phenotypes, CogGene or similar applications will be needed to enable collaborative knowledge aggregation and specify true effects.