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General discussion and future perspectives2098Dysregulation of cellular processes in 22q11.2DS and other GNDs may result in an increased susceptibility of long-lived neurons to develop neurologic and psychiatric disorders over the life span, morbidities that were frequently reported in GNDs described in chapter 2. Figure 1. Mitochondrial dysfunction may contribute to both neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders (adapted from Granat at el.52)These findings may support the hypothesis of a neurodevelopmental neurodegenerative continuum.46, 53 Other findings in adults with 22q11.2DS, described in chapters 4 and 6, may be indicative of this overlap as well. Hearing loss was found to be positively related to age, comparable to what has been reported in the general population,4 but presented at a much younger age in adults with 22q11.2DS. In addition, the decrease of retinal fractal dimension with age in adults with 22q11.2DS, described in