> Competing genes linked to mental illness
Competing genes linked to mental illness
November 12, 2008
A
genetic 'tug of war' between a mother and father's genes may be behind such
mental disorders as autism and schizophrenia.
SFU evolutionary biologist Bernard Crespi and colleague Christopher Badcock, a sociologist at the London School of Economics, have published a sweeping new theory of brain development that could change how mental disorders are understood.
In a new article, The New York Times suggests their ideas, rooted in science, provide psychiatry with "perhaps its grandest working theory since Freud, and one that is grounded in work at the forefront of science."
The research, published recently in Nature and in Behavioural and Brain Sciences, proposes that genes passed on from either parent can steer brain development in certain directions. A strong bias toward the father leads to development along a more methodical leaning, and what researchers refer to as the autistic spectrum. A bias toward the mother leads to a hypersensitivity to mood changes, and what researchers call the psychotic spectrum, increasing the risk of developing schizophrenia and mood problems later in life.
Even if the theory is flawed observers say it is likely to provide new insights into the biology of mental illness.
Crespi says the empirical implications are "absolutely" huge. "If you get a gene linked to autism, for instance, you'd want to look at that same gene for schizophrenia. If it is a social brain gene, then it would be expected to have opposite effects on these disorders, whether gene expression was turned up or turned down.”
Crespi, the recipient of a Killam teaching award in 2005, published findings in 2007 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B that suggest schizophrenia may be a by-product of natural selection in human evolution.
— 30 — (digital photo available on request)
SFU evolutionary biologist Bernard Crespi and colleague Christopher Badcock, a sociologist at the London School of Economics, have published a sweeping new theory of brain development that could change how mental disorders are understood.
In a new article, The New York Times suggests their ideas, rooted in science, provide psychiatry with "perhaps its grandest working theory since Freud, and one that is grounded in work at the forefront of science."
The research, published recently in Nature and in Behavioural and Brain Sciences, proposes that genes passed on from either parent can steer brain development in certain directions. A strong bias toward the father leads to development along a more methodical leaning, and what researchers refer to as the autistic spectrum. A bias toward the mother leads to a hypersensitivity to mood changes, and what researchers call the psychotic spectrum, increasing the risk of developing schizophrenia and mood problems later in life.
Even if the theory is flawed observers say it is likely to provide new insights into the biology of mental illness.
Crespi says the empirical implications are "absolutely" huge. "If you get a gene linked to autism, for instance, you'd want to look at that same gene for schizophrenia. If it is a social brain gene, then it would be expected to have opposite effects on these disorders, whether gene expression was turned up or turned down.”
Crespi, the recipient of a Killam teaching award in 2005, published findings in 2007 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B that suggest schizophrenia may be a by-product of natural selection in human evolution.
— 30 — (digital photo available on request)