Genetics and Mental Illness

Today's New York Times featured an article(click here) on genetics and mental illness. The article focused on the research of Bernard Crespi and Christopher Badcock. These scientists have developed a theory on brain development that says that the father's and mother's genes compete and the victor sways development along a spectrum. When the father's gene is dominant, the brain develops towards an autism spectrum. When the mother's gene is dominant, the brain develops toward a psychotic spectrum. The article goes on to say that this is a new direction for neural and genetic research. I'm suspicious because this seems to revert us to the days when mothers were blamed for their children's mental illnesses. It's like Freud with ten times the science. Since we know that schizophrenic parents make their children predisposed to the illness, what do the scientists think about the children of schizophrenic men. Who has more influence over the genes then, the schizophrenic father or the mother whose genes may cause a sway towards the psychotic spectrum? I hope they find an answer in their research.

BBC