The Human Illnesses

by Williamson, Peter; Allman, John

• ISBN13: 9780195368567
• ISBN10: 0195368568
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-14
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The genetic correlates of neuropsychiatric disorders are now known, but none have come close to explaining the great variety of human psychiatric illnesses. This volume, written by a neuropsychiatrist and an evolutionary biologist, offers a new paradigm for understanding these disorders. Proposing that neuronal pathways which underlie neuropsychiatric conditions mirror unique human capabilities, the authors iterate a new paradigm by which to understand human psychiatric illnesses. Human capabilities such as theory of mind, language, and complex social behaviors are explored through their histological, neuroanatomical and functional brain imaging correlates. The capacity for representation, the authors suggest, is central to the understanding of the human brain. Brain structures such as the frontal pole, temporal pole, and fronto-insular cortex are highly developed in humans and are associated with representation. Other brain regions, including the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, auditory cortex, and hippocampus, are linked with directed effort while the ventral anterior cingulate cortex, orbital frontal cortex, and amygdala are related to emotional encoding. Both networks interact with representional regions and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Conditions like schizophrenia may result, in part, from a failure of the networks associated with directed effort while bipolar disorders may arise from a failure of networks associated with emotional encoding. Similarly, autism may result from a failure of representational brain regions; frontotemporal dementia may be associated with failure of several discrete networks in later life. From this perspective, neuropsychiatric disorders are selective failures of brain networks involved in the integration of cognition, affect and perception. A better understanding of these brain networks will assist psychiatric and mental health researchers in the search for environmental factors and genetic correlates of disorders as well as aid in the development of more effective treatments for these diseases. This volume will be of interest to psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, biologists, and imaging scientists--anyone who has ever wondered what makes the human brain human.

Author Biography

Peter Williamson:
Tanna Schulich Chair in Neuroscience and Mental Health, Schulich School of Medicine, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario;
author of Mind, Brain, and Schizophrenia (OUP, 2006)

John M. Allman:
Hixon Professor of Neurobiology,
California Institute of Technology, Division of Biology
Pasadena, CA

Table of Contents

The Human Illnesses	p. 3
(1835-1911)	p. 4
(1856-1926)	p. 6
(1894-1981)	p. 9
(1851-1924)	p. 12
Current DSM-IV-TR Classification	p. 13
Debates About the Usefulness of Current Classifications	p. 19
Could the Human Brain Tell Us Something About These Disorders?	p. 20
Overview of the Volume	p. 21
Background on the Brain	p. 23
Brain Development	p. 24
Relevant Brain Regions	p. 25
Neuronal Circuits Related to Learning New Behaviors	p. 30
Neuronal Circuits Related to Emotional Regulation	p. 31
Summary	p. 35
Unique Aspects of the Human Brain	p. 36
The Emergence of Homo sapiens	p. 36
Brain Size and Morphology	p. 37
Are There Unique Cell Types?	p. 40
Genetic Studies	p. 44
Human Cognition Compared to Non-human Cognition	p. 49
Consciousness	p. 50
Summary	p. 51
Schizophrenia	p. 53
Epidemiology and Natural Course	p. 53
Neuropsychological Findings	p. 55
Electrophysiological Findings	p. 57
Neurotransmitter Abnormalities	p. 59
Neuropathological Studies	p. 60
Genetic Investigations	p. 64
Brain Imaging Studies	p. 66
Schizophrenia, Increased Apolipoprotein L-1, and Resistance to Trypanosome Brain Infection	p. 72
Overview	p. 72
Bipolar Disorders	p. 74
Epidemiology and Natural Course	p. 74
Neuropsychological Findings	p. 75
Psychophysiological Findings	p. 76
Neurotransmitter Abnormalities	p. 77
Neuropathological Studies	p. 78
Genetic Investigations	p. 79
Brain Imaging Studies	p. 80
Depression and Inflammation	p. 84
Overview	p. 85
Autism, ADHD, and Anorexia Nervosa	p. 87
Autism	p. 88
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)	p. 96
Anorexia Nervosa, Self-Awareness, and Autism Spectrum Disorders	p. 100
Overview	p. 102
Frontotemporal Dementia	p. 104
Epidemiology and Natural Course	p. 104
Neuropsychological Findings	p. 105
Neuropathological Studies	p. 106
Genetic Investigations	p. 107
Brain Imaging Studies	p. 109
Overview	p. 111
Self-Monitoring Systems	p. 113
Brain Imaging Studies of Self-Awareness	p. 113
Corollary Discharge Systems	p. 116
Theory of Mind	p. 118
Default Network	p. 120
Overview	p. 123
Language Systems	p. 125
The Nature of Language	p. 125
Do Primates Have Language?	p. 127
Imaging Language	p. 129
Language Anomalies in Neuropsychiatric Disorders	p. 130
Language Cannot Be Considered in Isolation	p. 133
Affective Processing and the Social Brain	p. 135
Emotional Processing in Animals	p. 135
Neurobiology of Emotions in Humans	p. 137
The Social Brain	p. 138
Self-Awareness, Empathy, and Intuition	p. 140
Eating Together and the Complex Social Emotions	p. 144
Implications for Neuropsychiatry Disorders	p. 145
Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Genetic Imprinting	p. 149
Overview	p. 149
Why Do We Have These Disorders?	p. 151
Representation in the Human Brain	p. 152
Schizophrenia	p. 153
Bipolar Disorder	p. 155
Autism	p. 156
Frontotemporal Dementia	p. 157
Neuropsychiatric Disorders and the Representational Brain	p. 158
Genetic Correlates	p. 160
Overview	p. 161
Implications	p. 163
The Search for Final Common Pathways	p. 163
Should We Give Up on Gene Studies?	p. 164
What Do Neuropsychiatric Disorders Tell Us About the Human Brain?	p. 165
What About Other Neuropsychiatric Disorders?	p. 167
The Default Network and the Representational Brain	p. 167
The Representational Brain, Attentional Networks, and Human Awareness	p. 168
How Do the Representational Brain Control Systems Work?	p. 169
Is the Representational Brain Unique to Humans?	p. 170
Von Economo Neurons and Brain Development	p. 170
Some Limitations of Current Brain Imaging	p. 171
A Final Thought	p. 171
References	p. 172
Index	p. 235
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