Researchers have localized a significant schizophrenia gene in remote parts of northern Finland. The risk of developing the illness is three times higher there than elsewhere.

The risk of developing schizophrenia is about one percent - around the globe. But in the northeast of Finland, the mental disorder occurs three times more frequently than in other parts of the world.

The northern regions are home to remote rural communities, which were founded by about 40 families in total, says Aarno Palotie, a geneticist at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland in Helsinki. He says the communities have a very specific genetic background.

"We saw this as a research opportunity to try to understand schizophrenia better," says Palotie.

So Palotie and his colleagues traveled to these northeastern parts in search of genes linked to schizophrenia. And they found one while studying the local population: the gene TOP3.

The TOP3 encodes a protein that acts on the genetic material inside a cell. And it's thought to be responsible for the faulty development of the brain in those who took part in the study.

"We wouldn't have found this gene if we had studied people in large cities with mixed ethnic origins," Palotie told DW.

Common symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking. If diagnosed early in life, patients can often manage hallucinations and prevent any social dysfunction.

Help from abroad

"We really had to find out why this gene was associated with schizophrenia," says Palotie. "And all of a sudden we got this email."

Continued here:
Risk of developing schizophrenia rises the farther north you go in Finland

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