“We now know that most neurodevelopmental disorders have a genetic component. For those individuals with unexplained causes, we think that many are likely due to these noncoding variants. Neurodevelopmental disorders are a range of developmental disorders that impair brain and nervous system function throughout a person’s lifespan and most often begin in childhood. In the current study, Carvill’s team aimed to determine how structural variants in one noncoding region of the genome may drive pathogenesis in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. The findings demonstrate how noncoding regions of the genome can cause neurodevelopmental disorders, Carvill said, and should prompt further investigation into the effects of structural variants in other noncoding regions across the genome, which can help inform new gene-targeting therapies for patients.