217

2015

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It would be very fascinating if we were right with this model. But at least we can state

that other studies also suggest that in schizophrenia the integration capacity of the brain is

decisively disturbed, that the cardinal symptoms of this disease arise from this, and that we

are pursuing a very fundamental, holistic approach here, which was originally conceived

by David Bohm.

15.2

Bioinformatics Helps to Better Describe the Brain

How can we use bioinformatics, for example, to better help patients with what is perhaps

the worst disease of all, destroyed personality, schizophrenia or schizophrenia? Well,

interestingly, that too will probably soon be better done by examining large genomic data­

sets. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are important here. Family studies have

always been used to try to identify important genes for schizophrenia and mental function.

In the past, a major disadvantage was that these studies often found only family-specific

genes and mutations. In the meantime, however, it is possible to sequence very large

amounts of data and in this way also detect weak signals (more precisely “low load score”)

more accurately. A major improvement has been proposed by Prof. Hannelore Ehrenreich

(MPI for Experimental Medicine, Göttingen). By precise diagnostics one can divide global

diseases (like schizophrenia, depression) into subtypes (in schizophrenia for example

autistic, paranoid, catatonic etc.), so that one can detect much more precisely the specific

signal of mutations which are then important for the respective single aspect. This is a very

important approach, which can now be approached in a very promising way with the help

of large transcriptome analyses. Once the molecular findings for these subtypes have been

determined with the help of data analysis, it is then possible to analyse the protein struc­

tures involved in detail and develop new drugs that can then help specifically with the

respective subtype – the success story of atypical neuroleptics shows how much good we

could then do. Thus, GWAS already bring good results for specific diseases, whenever the

signal is clear enough (Hammer et al. 2014).

Another possibility is the analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Often

the DNA sequence is altered at exactly one nucleotide. This can be neutral in its health

15.2  Bioinformatics Helps to Better Describe the Brain