- Last edited on October 17, 2023
History of Psychiatric Biomarkers
Primer
Biomarkers in psychiatric disorders long been the “holy grail” of psychiatry. What is the status of the research and where are we now? The advent of the DSM-5 was suppose to be a new chapter in psychiatry where biomarkers and lab tests would aid in the diagnosis and treatment. However, that has not panned out.
Challenges
Depression
Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST)
Schizophrenia
Actual Biomarkers
There are in fact already validated “biomarkers” in psychiatry for several neuropsychiatric disorders, including:
- DiGeorge (22q11.2 Deletion) Syndrome and its association with schizophrenia
- Narcolepsy and the hypocretin (orexin) deficiency on CSF
- Dementias such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)