Addressing the Genetics of Human Mental Health Disorders in Model Organisms

Mental health disorders are notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat for a variety of reasons, including genetic heterogeneity, comorbidities, and qualitative diagnostic criteria. Discovery of the molecular pathology underlying these disorders is crucial to the development of quantitative biomarkers and novel therapeutics. In this review, we discuss contributions to the mental health field of different cellular and whole-animal approaches in characterizing psychiatric genetics and molecular pathology. These approaches include mammalian cell and neuronal culture, cerebral organoids, induced pluripotent stem cells, and the whole-animal models of nematodes, flies, mollusks, frogs, mice, and zebrafish, on the last of which we place extra emphasis. Integrative use of these cellular and animal systems in a complementary and informative fashion maximizes the potential contributions to the mental health field as a whole.