That which makes us clever, make us mad

Discussion in 'Biology & Genetics' started by S.A.M., Dec 4, 2008.

  1. S.A.M. uniquely dreadful Valued Senior Member

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    Scientists have discovered that a common version of a particular gene appears both to enhance a key thinking circuit in the brain, and to be linked to a raised risk of schizophrenia.

    The findings, from a study by the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), provide fresh evidence for the theory that schizophrenia is the price that some people pay for our species’s peculiarly advanced intellectual abilities.

    In the study, the NIMH team examined a common variant of a gene called DARPP-32. Three quarters of the subjects studied had inherited at least one copy of the variant.

    This common version of the gene appears to make the brain’s most sophisticated thinking region more efficient, the researchers found. It improves the way that information is exchanged between the striatum, a brain region that processes reward, and the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s executive hub that manages thoughts and actions.

    When this circuit works efficiently, the normal outcome is more flexible thinking and improved working memory. As a result, genes such as DARPP-32 that enhance it have probably been favoured by evolution.

    The same circuit, however, has also been linked to brain functions that go wrong in patients with schizophrenia. An investigation of 257 families with a history of the condition showed that the improving version of DARPP-32 was more common among people who had developed the mental illness. ​

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1355884.ece

    Hehe, don't you just love science?

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  3. mikenostic Stop pretending you're smart! Registered Senior Member

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    That doesn't surprise me. There is a quote from Oscar Levant that goes, 'there is a fine line between genius and insanity'. I guess now it's true.
     
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