This review examines what is known about the genetic architecture of endophenotypes and assesses the claim that endophenotypes are more suitable than psychiatric diagnostic categories for genetic dissection, by which we mean the application of genetic linkage and association strategies to identify genes associated with psychiatric disease and component mechanisms. We start with a brief introduction to endophenotypes and then proceed to examine examples where sufficient genetic data have accumulated for our purpose. We do not provide a comprehensive review of all endophenotypes employed in psychiatric genetics.
