I have wondered what could possibly be adaptive about schizophrenia. Why does it persist? Then I wonder if the genes that lead some individuals to create grossly distorted realities in their minds are connected to the ability to be creative.
I have wondered what could possibly be adaptive about schizophrenia. Why does it persist? Then I wonder if the genes that lead some individuals to create grossly distorted realities in their minds are connected to the ability to be creative.
Schizophrenia exists because half of the human genome affects the brain, and deleterious mutations tend to cause schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is likely a grab bag of "broken brain syndromes" which all manifest in similar ways; even though people with schizophrenia reproduce at about half the rate of controls, more random mutations appear every generation. Unfortunate it is indeed to contemplate that mother nature will never rid us of this disorder. :(
I have wondered what could possibly be adaptive about schizophrenia. Why does it persist? Then I wonder if the genes that lead some individuals to create grossly distorted realities in their minds are connected to the ability to be creative.
The conventional explanation is that if you can access distorted realities in your mind but not be dominated by them, they're a source of creativity.
Schizophrenia exists because half of the human genome affects the brain, and deleterious mutations tend to cause schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is likely a grab bag of "broken brain syndromes" which all manifest in similar ways; even though people with schizophrenia reproduce at about half the rate of controls, more random mutations appear every generation. Unfortunate it is indeed to contemplate that mother nature will never rid us of this disorder. :(