**6. High‐risk genes implicated in schizophrenia**

High‐risk genes associated with schizophrenia such as DISC1, dysbindin, neuregulin, COMT, and G72/G30 genes, responsible for neurodevelopment, neuronal growth, and migration, have all shown to be involved in NMDA dysfunction leading to schizophre‐ nia [15]. The most prominent of the genes is *D*isrupted in *schizophrenia* 1 (DISC1), which acts as a scaffolding protein involved in the formation of protein complexes important in neurodevelopment, microtubule network dynamics and axonal elongation [28, 29]. Despite the controversy and debate [16, 30], evidence shows that schizophrenic patients contain DISC1‐SNPs that cause a decrease in DISC1‐interacting protein expression levels, such as NMDA receptors. In DISC1 animal models, mice with point mutations in the gene or truncated forms of DISC1 display molecular, cellular, and behavioral phenotypes that are analogous to schizophrenia. DISC1 is especially susceptible to mutations due to envi‐ ronmental stressors during neurodevelopment that may lead to the pathogenesis of the disorder [31, 32].
