About PsychENCODE

Deciphering the Brain's Molecular Architecture

Established in 2015 by the National Institute of Mental Health, the PsychENCODE Consortium brings together multidisciplinary teams to study the molecular basis of neuropsychiatric diseases. Genetic influences on brain function are remarkably complex, characterized by a highly polygenic risk architecture and often located in the non-coding regions of the genome. PsychENCODE members generate large-scale gene expression and regulatory data from human postmortem brain tissues in major psychiatric disorders across multiple developmental stages. The goal is to map and functionally validate disease‐associated genetic variants, regulatory elements, genes and cell types. Phase II of the project focused on single-cell and spatial data, culminating in a collection of 14 papers published on May 24, 2024 (9 in Science, 3 in Science Advances, 1 in Scientific Reports, and 1 in Molecular Psychiatry). Phase I of the project was published in 2018 in a collection of 11 papers in Science, Science Translational Medicine, and Science Advances