Genograms have also allowed for advances in the study of CADASIL, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative diseases which show family transmission.

One example of this is the findings on neurocognitive performance in the index case and other family members, suggesting the presence of candidate endophenotypes in different domains of executive function in mental illnesses like schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, type one bipolar disorder, autism, and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, among others. This is possible when clinical patterns or frequent behaviors can be identified in a patient and are shared with other close family members. On the other hand, the high inheritability of mental disorders expressed in studies of family aggregation and identical twins reflects the importance of meticulously constructing family trees to establish the following: consanguinity and its probable contribution to the likelihood of the presence of various syndromes associated to cognitive performance the founding ancestors in a family tree, particularly the diversity of last names and how this suggests a particular genetic structure and levels of genetic mixing, allowing for an estimation of the proportions of other populations and their differential contribution to the development of diseases within a particular environmental context.Р”Р„dditionally, genograms allow us to make inferences about prognoses, the presence of distinctive clinical subtypes, and the evolution of symptoms. For example, in cognitive performance congenital errors of metabolism are frequently associated with the presence of mental retardation these have also been associated with recessive inheritance patterns. Detailed pedigree analysis can help in the detection of the dominance and recessiveness of a given trait, which comes from the study of phenotypes and helps identify Mendelian diseases with dominant or recessive patterns. This approach also motivates the detailed construction of family trees and pedigree charts. In this regard, advances in our understanding of the genetics of human illnesses, rooted in population genetics, has encouraged comparative studies of genetic variation between individuals of the same population using a mathematical approximation of the allele distribution or genetic variants of interest to the researcher.

Their use can help researchers understand maternal and paternal lineages, the diversity of last names, and the probable level of genetic mixing within a family or group of families settled in a determined place. In basic and biomedical research, genealogies are a fundamental resource for the evaluation of genetic homogeneity of a population or sample group. Their construction should include not only basic details and family structure, but also information that can outline different approaches for both research and clinical intervention.

Currently, genograms have become a basic and fundamental tool used to graphically represent a detailed record of family information.

Genogram example with key