RELEVANCE OF EARLY AGE-OF-ONSET IN GENETIC-STUDIES OF BIPOLAR AFFECTIVE-DISORDER

Early age-of-onset appears to predict higher familial loading in bipolar affective disorder. This finding, coupled with ongoing attention to the importance of genomic heterogeneity for segregation and linkage analyses, underscores the value of research on juvenile samples. This research is reviewed, and implications for future research on genetic classification of bipolar illness are noted.