Challenges and opportunities for genomic developmentals neuropsychology

Short Communication - Neurophysiology Research (2021) Volume 3, Issue 2

Genomics has been revolutionizing medicine over the past decade by offering mechanistic insights into

disease processes and harbouring the age of “individualized medicine.” Because of the sheer number

of measures generated by gene sequencing methods, genomics requires “Big Science” where large

datasets on genes are analyzed in reference to electronic medical record data. This revolution has largely

bypassed the behavioural neurosciences, mainly because of the paucity of behavioural data in medical

records and the labour intensity of available neuropsychological assessment methods. We describe the

development and implementation of an efficient neuroscience-based computerized battery, coupled with

a computerized clinical assessment procedure. This assessment package has been applied to a genomic

study of 10,000 children aged 8-21, of whom 1000 also undergo neuroimaging. Results from the first

3000 participants indicate sensitivity to neurodevelopmental trajectories. Sex differences were evident,

with females outperforming males in memory and social cognition domains, while for spatial processing

males were more accurate and faster, and they were faster on simple motor tasks. The study illustrates

what will hopefully become a major component of the work of clinical and research neuropsychologists

as invaluable participants in the dawning age of Big Science neuropsychological genomics. At the turn

of the previous century, a series of annual seminars in Niels Bohr's Institute in Copenhagen brought

together leading physicists from around the world. The young physicists soon realized that the new

“Knaben physick” will require a paradigm shift away from working in small isolated laboratories

testing esoteric theories that few people understood, to large-scale collaborative work that could

elucidate complex phenomena. Such work required engaging governments to support very expensive

equipment and multiple investigators that collaborate intensely sharing plans, data and conclusions.

The whole field required adjustment at almost every level, from training to modes of communications

to ways of giving credit to the many investigators participating in the research efforts. The era of “Big

Science” had begun, and physicists never looked back. The genomics revolution, unfortunately, has

largely bypassed psychiatry, behavioural neurology and clinical neuropsychology, the bio-behavioural

disciplines. The main reason is that genomics of disease has advanced by crossing large databases

of genotypes with medical information available on electronic medical records, which is detailed on

biomarkers such as blood pressure, blood chemistry, heart rate, height and weight, but woefully lacking

information pertinent to behaviour. We submit that unless we are resigned to staying on the side-lines of

the genomics revolution, the field of neuropsychology has to undergo a paradigm shift. The complexity

of physics is matched, at the least, with the complexity of behaviour, brain, and the genetic, epigenetic

and environmental mechanisms affecting the brain and thereby the processes through which it regulates

behaviour.

Author(s): CHAYOUNG KIM,