Gene Associated with Schizophrenia Linked to Intelligence
Is your intelligence partly influenced by the same gene that influences susceptibility to schizophrenia? Apparently so, say researchers in the US, because the gene for dysbindin-1, previously implicated in schizophrenia, appears also to influence general human intelligence.
Researchers led by Katherine E. Burdick at the Zucker Hillside Hospital in New York report in the 15 May issue of Human Molecular Genetics that a region on chromosome 6p, previously associated with schizophrenia, may be linked to variation in intelligence.
(For a quick introduction to previous work identifying DTNB1, which encodes dysbindin-1, as a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia, see the commentary ‘Dysbindin-1 and schizophrenia: from genetics to neuropathology’ in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The full text of the article featured in that commentary is available from PubMed. You can also use PubMed to find a slew of related articles.)
Burdick’s team reports an association between the DTNBP1 genotype and general cognitive ability in two independent cohorts, including 213 individuals with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder and 126 volunteers free of schizophrenic symptoms. The researchers conclude that their data suggest that DTNBP1 genetic variation also influences human intelligence.
Other articles by Dr Greg Mulhauser, Managing Editor
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23rd December 2007
Please help me understand schizophrenia. I have been raised as a boy and there is no femininity. I am trying hard to get my loved one back by obliging with everything that is being asked of me. I am also overweight and too dark so i feel insecure about my physique. My partner is good looking and will see other women as more beautiful than me. I am unloved and have been all my life.
21st February 2008
Well, looking at what you wrote there, I don’t see any signs of schizophrenia, but you may well have it, I don’t know. It looks like you haven’t been raised in the best family situation..so that could be adding your insecurity/lonliness, etc. For now, I’d concentrate on being yourself and doing things because you want to do it, and it’s the right thing. I know it’s hard to forget about guys, but for now, it looks like a good idea. Then maybe when you get more confident, you’ll be ready.
P.S. Being dark does not in any way make you less beautiful than anyone else. You’re just different, and that’s a good thing. If you have more consistent, serious problems, I would suggest seeing a therapist/doctor.
17th July 2008
Schizophrenia runs in my family. My great grandmother had it and my mother has it. I don’t think I will have a child because I don’t want to pass it on.
I am interested though, in intelligence related to Schizophrenia. My mother is very bright and I used to be able to have people throw out multiplications that I would answer in about 3 seconds or less. An example would be what is 3,528 x 14? Yet I failed math in high school and in college the busier I was, the higher my GPA was. Deans List was not a goal but I always hit it.
Now, it seems my mind is changing. I can’t answer that type of math questioning anymore. Weird…
1st September 2008
Its interesting that the scitzophrenia gene and the intelligence gene are linked.Does that mean that people with a low intelligence are more likely to suffer from scitzophrenia?I had my IQ tested and it was right of center on the bell curve , my visual spacial was 90 to 100 % so how do I hallucinate?Also what is the IQ of the average Scitzophrenia sufferer?Thanks Craig.
27th September 2009
I have 3 stepchildren that come from a family with Schizophrena
my stepson is 23 and he keeps talking about people are always out to get him and also that he sees license plates with numbers that are upside down on the license plates- he also claims someone is messing with his car- ( like doing different things to the car when my husband and I have our cars parked by his but nothing happens to ours- I don’t see nothing happening withhis either but he claims there is …
I want to know if these are schizophrena behaviors?