Biological mechanisms underlying evolutionary origins of psychotic and mood disorders

•Alleles associated with psychiatric disorders may have been under positive selection.•Such positive selection may involve several gene-environment interaction mechanisms.•Research on psychiatric disorders from evolutionary perspectives is promising. Psychotic and mood disorders are brain dysfunctio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience research 2016-10, Vol.111, p.13-24
Main Authors: Goto, Yukiori, Lee, Young-A, Yamaguchi, Yoshie, Jas, Emanuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Dopamine - physiology
Epigenetic
Evolution, Molecular
Gene-Environment Interaction
Genetic Variation
Homophily
Host-Parasite Interactions
Humans
Maternal Behavior
Maternal care
Monoamine
Mood Disorders - genetics
Mood Disorders - physiopathology
Mood Disorders - psychology
Neurodevelopment
Psychiatric disorder
Psychotic Disorders - genetics
Psychotic Disorders - physiopathology
Psychotic Disorders - psychology
Selection, Genetic
Serotonin - physiology
Social Behavior
Social hierarchy
Symbiosis
Synaptic Transmission
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Summary:•Alleles associated with psychiatric disorders may have been under positive selection.•Such positive selection may involve several gene-environment interaction mechanisms.•Research on psychiatric disorders from evolutionary perspectives is promising. Psychotic and mood disorders are brain dysfunctions that are caused by gene environment interactions. Although these disorders are disadvantageous and involve behavioral phenotypes that decrease the reproductive success of afflicted individuals in the modern human society, the prevalence of these disorders have remained constant in the population. Here, we propose several biological mechanisms by which the genes associated with psychotic and mood disorders could be selected for in specific environmental conditions that provide evolutionary bases for explanations of when, why, and where these disorders emerged and have been maintained in humans. We discuss the evolutionary origins of psychotic and mood disorders with specific focuses on the roles of dopamine and serotonin in the conditions of social competitiveness/hierarchy and maternal care and other potential mechanisms, such as social network homophily and symbiosis.
ISSN:0168-0102
1872-8111
DOI:10.1016/j.neures.2016.04.007