Gene x Environment Determinants of Stress- and Anxiety-Related Disorders

The burgeoning field of gene-by-environment (G x E) interactions has revealed fascinating biological insights, particularly in the realm of stress-, anxiety-, and depression-related disorders. In this review we present an integrated view of the study of GxE interactions in stress and anxiety disorders, including the evolution of genetic association studies from genetic epidemiology to contemporary large-scale genome-wide association studies and GxE studies. We convey the importance of consortia efforts and collaboration to gain the large sample sizes needed to move the field forward. Finally, we discuss several robust and well-reproduced GxE interactions and demonstrate how epidemiological identification of GxE interactions has naturally led to a plethora of basic research elucidating the mechanisms of high-impact genetic variants.