Researchers from the University of Georgia have identified numerous biological markers that can be used to increase the precision of mental disorder diagnosis, as outlined in their study. The findings pose the potential to help improve the diagnostic and treatment processes for those suffering from mental illness.
"Psychiatry still relies on symptoms as the basis of a diagnosis," said Brett Clementz, lead author of the study, in a press release. "It would be like using the presence of fever to diagnose a specific infection. We need some means to help us more accurately differentiate mental disorders."
In order to identify the markers, Clementz and his team crafted an experimental program that utilized neurobiological measures as opposed to symptoms in order to classify diseases. They exclusively studied patients suffering from psychosis, which refers to mental disorders such as bipolar and schizophrenia.
"We wanted to try to provide neurobiological underpinnings for DSM-type psychosis diagnoses," he said.
Using more than 700 patients, including some who were relatives, the team put them through a variety of tests of cognitive ability and compared the results with a control group. Some of the tests included MRI scans as well as visual tasks.
"We were better able to predict who had family histories of psychoses, structural brain abnormalities and measures of social functioning when compared with DSM standards," said Clementz.
Although there is still much to learn before these biomeasures can be used for creating new diagnostics or aiding drug efficacy, the research brings scientists one step closer to these goals.
"We're a long way from identifying specific disease mechanisms, but we're a step closer than we were when we focused on clinical symptoms alone," said Clementz.
