Approved research

Genetic and environmental causes of psychotic experiences in the community in UK Biobank

Lay summary

The overarching goal is to study the genetic and environmental causes of psychotic experiences in the UK Biobank (UKB) sample. The research questions explored will include what is the heritability and the genetic basis of psychotic experiences, and to what extent do genetic influences on psychotic experiences in the UKB sample overlap with major psychiatric disorders. Parallel research questions exploring environmental risk factors underlying psychotic experiences will be explored. Psychotic experiences are common traits that affect the individuals who have them as well as their caregivers, families and friends. Psychotic experiences are known to be associated with later mental health diagnoses. As such, this project exploring the genetic and environmental causes of psychotic experiences and related traits in the UKB sample will influence prevention and treatment of mental health difficulties. Genetic analyses of data will be conducted to explore the heritability and genetic architecture of psychotic experiences and related traits. State of the art genetic analyses will be conducted to estimate genetic overlap between psychotic experiences and other relevant traits and environmental risk factors. It is expected that the project duration will be approximately 2 years.