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Schizophrenia as a consequence of brain evolution

P L Randall1

  • 1p.l.randall@tassie.net.au

Schizophrenia Research
|April 29, 1998
PubMed
Summary
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Brain evolution may have involved trial and error, leading to misconnections. These errors could explain developmental brain syndromes like schizophrenia, stemming from our evolutionary past.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Developmental Psychology

Background:

  • Central nervous system function evolved through gradual integration.
  • Enlargement of existing brain structures and addition of new functions occurred during evolution.
  • This evolutionary process may have introduced errors in neural connections.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the hypothesis that connectionist integration in the central nervous system evolved via biological trial and error.
  • To investigate how misconnectionist variants could arise during brain evolution.
  • To propose a potential link between these evolutionary processes and human developmental brain syndromes.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of brain evolution.
  • Review of neurodevelopmental principles.

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  • Comparative neuroanatomy perspectives.

    • Main Results:

    • Biological trial and error is proposed as a mechanism for connectionist integration in CNS evolution.
    • Misconnectionist variants can emerge as new brain functions are added and structures enlarge.
    • Schizophrenia and other human developmental syndromes are suggested as potential outcomes of these evolutionary misconnections.

    Conclusions:

    • The evolutionary history of the human brain, including its vertebrate ancestry, may provide insights into developmental brain disorders.
    • Misconnections arising from evolutionary processes could underlie conditions like schizophrenia.
    • Understanding brain evolution is crucial for comprehending neurodevelopmental pathologies.