Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-18T08:21:34.027Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The biology of mental disorders: What are we talking about?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Alfonso Troisi*
Affiliation:
Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. alfonso.troisi@uniroma2.ithttp://medschool.uniroma2.it/2016/05/31/alfonso-troisi/

Abstract

After the Darwinian revolution, biology is not only the study of the operation of structural elements (functional biology), but also the study of adaption and phylogenetic history (evolutionary biology). From an evolutionary perspective, the biology of mental disorders is not just “neurobiology and genetic constitution” but also adaptive reactions to adverse situations. Evolutionary explanations of mental disorders are biological and non-reductionist.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Belsky, J. (2016) The differential susceptibility hypothesis: Sensitivity to the environment for better and for worse. JAMA Pediatrics 170(4):321–22.Google Scholar
Brüne, M. (2016) Borderline personality disorder: Why “fast and furious”?. Evolution Medicine and Public Health 1:5266.Google Scholar
Chua, K. J., Lukaszewski, A. W., Grant, D. M. & Sng, O. (2017) Human life history strategies. Evolutionary Psychology 15(1):1474704916677342. doi: 10.1177/1474704916677342 (Online article). Available at: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1474704916677342.Google Scholar
Del Giudice, M., Ellis, B. J. & Shirtcliff, E. A. (2011) The adaptive calibration model of stress responsivity. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Review 35(7):1562–92.Google Scholar
Keller, M. C., Neale, M. C. & Kendler, K. S. (2007) Association of different adverse life events with distinct patterns of depressive symptoms. American Journal of Psychiatry 164(10):1521–29.Google Scholar
Keller, M. C. & Nesse, R. M. (2006) The evolutionary significance of depressive symptoms: Different adverse situations lead to different depressive symptom patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91:316–30.Google Scholar
Mayr, E. (1982) The growth of biological thought. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Troisi, A. (2017) The painted mind. Behavioral science reflected in great paintings. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar