Maxwell JM, Coleman JRI, Breen G, et al. - Researchers examined if individuals with genetic predisposition to a range of psychiatric disorders are more likely to be born in or to move to urban areas.

• Based on census data from 1931-2011, a cross-sectional retrospective cohort study was conducted including genotypes, address history, and geographic distribution of population density in the UK.

• Nearly 386,000 adults from the UK Biobank were included.

• Greater likelihood of living in and moving to urban areas was recorded in correlation with presence of genetic risk for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anorexia nervosa, and autism spectrum disorder.

• There were largely consistent results across polygenic risk score, genetic correlation, and mendelian randomization analyses.

• The hypothesis of genetic selection of an individual’s environment was thus supported, which intersects the traditional gene-environment dichotomy in the pathogenesis of mental disorders.