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Genes for susceptibility to mental disorder are not mental disorder: Clarifying the target of evolutionary analysis and the role of the environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2006

Nicholas B. Allen  and
Paul B. T. Badcock
Nicholas B. Allen*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and ORYGEN Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010Australia
Paul B. T. Badcock*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010Australia
*
nba@unimelb.edu.au
.badcock@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au
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Abstract:

In this commentary, we critique the appropriate behavioural features for evolutionary genetic analysis, the role of the environment, and the viability of a general evolutionary genetic model for all common mental disorders. In light of these issues, we suggest that the authors may have prematurely discounted the role of some of the mechanisms they review, particularly balancing selection.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , August 2006 , pp. 405 - 406
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

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References

Note

1. By “no longer performing its naturally selected function,” we mean that the action of the mechanism either exacerbates the problem(s) it was designed to solve or creates a new problem that is more severe or debilitating.