Maudsley Family Study of Psychosis

The Maudsley Family Study of Psychosis investigates the genetically produced markers of abnormal brain structure and function ('intermediate phenotypes') which underlie the clinical syndrome of schizophrenia, and more recently bipolar disorder.

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are known to be highly heritable.

Despite decades of research, however, the genetic variations conferring susceptibility to these illnesses have yet to be identified. Such genetic variations most likely produce abnormalities of brain structure and function from which the clinical features of psychosis emerge, and it is these changes the project focuses on.