Schizophrenia poses an evolutionary enigma. The disorder has existed throughout recorded human history and persists despite its severe effects on thought and behavior, and its reduced rates of producing offspring. A new study in Biological Psychiatry may help explain why-comparing genetic information of Neanderthals to modern humans, the researchers found evidence for an association between genetic risk for schizophrenia and markers of human evolution. This study suggests that schizophrenia is a modern development, one that emerged after humans diverged from Neanderthals, suggesting that early hominids did not have this disorder. The cause of schizophrenia remains unknown, but researchers know that genetics play a significant role in the development. According to one of the authors some think that schizophrenia could be a “side effect” of advantageous gene variants related to the acquisition of human traits, like language and complex cognitive skills, that might have increased our propensity to developing psychoses. http://www.psypost.org/2016/08/schizophrenia-emerged-after-humans-diverged-from-neanderthals-44384
