Epigenetic mechanisms have recently emerged as critical regulators of brain function in health and disease. By controlling the accessibility and the expression of specific genes, these pathways can mediate transient and long-lasting changes in neuronal function in both physiological and pathological contexts. Due to the extreme complexity of the epigenetic regulatory landscape, emerging methods that directly assay chromatin accessibility are of particular interest. Here, I review recent insights gained on open and closed chromatin states in the brain, with emphasis on neuropsychiatric disorders. These advances generated an invaluable wealth of information that can help us better understand gene regulation in the brain and its impairments that contribute to the development of disease.

表观遗传机制最近已成为健康和疾病中大脑功能的关键调节因子。通过控制特定基因的可及性和表达，这些途径可以介导生理和病理环境中神经元功能的短暂和持久变化。由于表观遗传调控环境的极端复杂性，直接检测染色质可及性的新兴方法特别令人感兴趣。在这里，我回顾了最近对大脑中开放和封闭染色质状态的见解，重点是神经精神疾病。这些进步产生了宝贵的信息财富，可以帮助我们更好地了解大脑中的基因调控及其导致疾病发展的损伤。