[Endophenotypes of severe depression]. / Vakavan masennuksen endofenotyypit eli välimuotoiset ilmiasut.

ABSTRACT

Patients with the same diagnosis may present a highly different symptom picture. The concept of endophenotype has been created to facilitate the assessment of factors underlying psychiatric diseases. The concept allows the reduction of heterogenous categories of psychiatric diagnoses into less complicated components so that use is made of e.g. neuroanatomy, neurocognitive tests, biochemical factors or neuropsychology. Possible endophenotypes of severe depression include neurocognitive parameters associated with learning and memory, hippocampal volume as well as neuroticism, for example.