WCPG 2009

Recent articles

Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Autism study zooms in on five-gene strip on chromosome 16

Genetic analysis of one Belgian family with a history of autism has pinpointed a piece of DNA on chromosome 16, within a segment thought to be missing in about one percent of all cases of autism. The unpublished data was presented on Saturday at the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics in San Diego.

By Virginia Hughes
10 November 2009 | 4 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Massive genomics project unveils schizophrenia results

The Psychiatric GWAS Consortium has released its first batch of analyses, identifying several significant common variations associated with schizophrenia. The results were presented Sunday at the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics in San Diego.

By Virginia Hughes
10 November 2009 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Variants in synaptic protein linked to autism

Scientists have identified several autism-specific variants in a gene that lies within a chromosomal region linked to the disorder, according to a poster presented at the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics in San Diego.

By Virginia Hughes
9 November 2009 | 3 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Variants associated with autism over-hyped, company says

Variations linked to autism and schizophrenia crop up in people with a large variety of conditions, including bipolar disorder, seizures and obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as in healthy people. This notion gained new support from unpublished data presented at the World Congress for Psychiatric Genetics in San Diego.

By Virginia Hughes
6 November 2009 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of mouse and human Purkinje cells.

Purkinje cells evolved to have increasingly complex architecture

An increasing proportion of the cerebellar neurons acquired multiple primary dendrites in humans and other apes, according to a comparison of 11 primate species.

By Siddhant Pusdekar
16 July 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of mouse brain.

Making waves: Sleep-like brain activity in awake mice lowers sleep need, boosts memory

Alternating on/off firing patterns don’t just characterize deep, slow-wave sleep, they drive some of its restorative benefits, new findings suggest.

By Alissa de Chassey
16 July 2026 | 4 min read