Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026

Handwriting Analysis Indicates Spontaneous Dyskinesias in Neuroleptic Naïve Adolescents at High Risk for Psychosis
Published on: November 21, 2013
Brain structure and joint hypermobility: relevance to the expression of psychiatric symptoms
Jessica A Eccles1, Felix D C Beacher, Marcus A Gray
1Department of Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK. J.Eccles@bsms.ac.uk
Abstract:
Joint hypermobility is overrepresented among people with anxiety and can be associated with abnormal autonomic reactivity. We tested for associations between regional cerebral grey matter and hypermobility in 72 healthy volunteers using voxel-based morphometry of structural brain scans. Strikingly, bilateral amygdala volume distinguished those with from those without hypermobility. The hypermobility group scored higher for interoceptive sensitivity yet were not significantly more anxious. Our findings specifically link hypermobility to the structural integrity of a brain centre implicated in normal and abnormal emotions and physiological responses. Our observations endorse hypermobility as a multisystem phenotype and suggest potential mechanisms mediating clinical vulnerability to neuropsychiatric symptoms.
Related Concept Videos
Biological Causes of Schizophrenia
Genetic Factors in Schizophrenia
The genetic basis of schizophrenia is strongly supported by family and twin studies.
Structural Joints: Synovial Joints
Personality Disorders: Schizotypal and Histrionic
Schizotypal Personality Disorder: Eccentric Behavior and Social Withdrawal
Schizotypal personality disorder is marked by odd or eccentric...
Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia
Joints
Structural joint classifications are based on the material that makes up the joint as well as whether or not the joint contains a space between the bones. Joints are structurally classified as fibrous, cartilaginous, or synovial.
Fibrous Joints Are Immovable
The bones of a...