Unidad de Neurobiología Molecular y Genética – Bioquímica y Biofísica de Membranas

The Molecular Neurobiology and Genetics – Biochemistry and Membrane Biophysics Unit studies the risk factors and molecular bases of psychosis, schizophrenia, and affective disorders. Mental disorders affect between 15% and 40% of the population worldwide at some point in their lives and represent a high burden of disease in terms of years lived with disability. Current evidence indicates that the probability of mental disorders occurring depends on inherited factors and environmental factors, whose interaction under certain conditions would generate a functional imbalance that leads to the clinical manifestation of the disease. The great challenges of the biology of mental disorders include not only understanding their origin, but also knowing their course throughout life. This encompasses the study of genes involved in risk and protection, environmental factors associated with risk, and critical windows of time.