People with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia may be
protected against the disease if they have a high IQ, finds a new study
conducted by scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University and Lund University
of Sweden.
This contradicts the popular myth that schizophrenia is
directly linked to brilliance.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by symptoms of thought, behavior and social problems.
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"If you're really smart, your genes for schizophrenia don't have much of a chance of acting," says lead author Kenneth S. Kendler, who is a professor of psychiatry and human and molecular genetics at the VCU School of Medicine.
In the study, the researchers gauged the IQ of 1.2 million
Swedish males born between 1951 and 1975.
Hospitalization due to schizophrenia was tracked for 24 years and ended in 2010.
![Better Treatment for Schizophrenia With Novel Drug Target]( "Better Treatment for Schizophrenia With Novel Drug Target")
A novel drug target that could lead to the development of better antipsyhcotic medications has been identified by scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
"What really predicted risk for schizophrenia is how much you deviate from the predicted IQ that we get from your relatives. If you're quite a bit lower, that carries a high risk for schizophrenia. Not achieving the IQ that you should have based on your genetic constitution and family background seems to most strongly predispose for schizophrenia," noted Kendler.
While the effect is fairly robust, it does not completely rule out the possibility of schizophrenia in highly intelligent people.
"The question is, might we see some upward bump at that high level of intelligence where really brilliant people have increased risk for the disease and we show no such trend," added Kendler.
Source: Medindia
Hospitalization due to schizophrenia was tracked for 24 years and ended in 2010.
Better Treatment for Schizophrenia With Novel Drug Target
A novel drug target that could lead to the development of better antipsyhcotic medications has been identified by scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Advertisement
"What really predicted risk for schizophrenia is how much you deviate from the predicted IQ that we get from your relatives. If you're quite a bit lower, that carries a high risk for schizophrenia. Not achieving the IQ that you should have based on your genetic constitution and family background seems to most strongly predispose for schizophrenia," noted Kendler.
While the effect is fairly robust, it does not completely rule out the possibility of schizophrenia in highly intelligent people.
"The question is, might we see some upward bump at that high level of intelligence where really brilliant people have increased risk for the disease and we show no such trend," added Kendler.
Source: Medindia
Excess Protein During Brain Development can Trigger Schizophrenia
The biological process of schizophrenia may be explained with a gene associated with the disease that plays a role in brain development, reveals a new Rutgers research.
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