A thread through the archive
Essays tagged “schizophrenia”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Scott discusses how new schizophrenia genetics research confirms that psychiatric conditions combine both 'tradeoff' components (with compensating advantages) and 'failure' components (purely negative), then argues this pattern is common sense for any multifactorial problem.
Scott Alexander refutes Stephen Skolnick's theory that schizophrenia is caused by gut microbes rather than genetics, showing why the evidence better supports schizophrenia being a complex genetic neurodevelopmental disorder.
Scott Alexander argues that using polygenic screening to select low-risk embryos can be considered as preventing genetic disorders, drawing parallels with other accepted preventive practices.
Scott Alexander explores how evolutionary processes explain the polygenic structure of schizophrenia and other complex traits, addressing concerns about genetic research and implications for future genetic interventions.
Scott Alexander argues that schizophrenia should be described as predominantly genetic, addressing counterarguments and emphasizing the importance of this perspective for prevention strategies.
Scott Alexander uses simulations to explain why seemingly counterintuitive arguments against the genetic basis of schizophrenia are misleading.
A review of Stanislas Dehaene's 'Consciousness and the Brain', discussing scientific findings on consciousness and their implications.
Scott Alexander examines a genetic study distinguishing cognitive and non-cognitive skills in educational attainment, revealing unexpected correlations with mental health conditions.
Scott explores the puzzling relationship between congenital blindness, schizophrenia, and autism, discussing potential explanations and the need for further research.
Scott discusses reader comments on his 'Crazy Like Us' book review, covering topics like PTSD, cultural influences on mental illness, and cross-cultural prevalence of schizophrenia.
Scott Alexander reviews 'Crazy Like Us', exploring how Western mental health concepts spread globally and whether raising awareness of mental health problems might make them worse.
Scott Alexander examines whether psychiatric conditions result from evolutionary failures or tradeoffs, proposing that most disorders involve a combination of both.
The post explores the diametrical model of autism and schizophrenia, suggesting they represent opposite ends of a spectrum from mechanistic to mentalistic cognition.
Scott explores how acetylcholine-related cognitive enhancers might work by increasing sensory precision and learning rate, while speculating on potential tradeoffs and acknowledging the highly speculative nature of these ideas.
The post examines the theory of treating schizophrenia's prodrome stage, exploring how early intervention might prevent full-blown schizophrenia and discussing the biological mechanisms behind the disease's progression.
Scott proposes a speculative theory of depression as pathologically low confidence in neural predictions within the predictive processing framework, explaining how this could account for various depressive symptoms.
Scott Alexander reviews 'Surfing Uncertainty' by Andy Clark, exploring the predictive processing model of brain function and its wide-ranging explanatory power.
Scott explores the theory that clozapine's unique effectiveness in treating schizophrenia may be due to its combined action on dopamine and glutamate systems, potentially opening avenues for safer treatments.
Scott Alexander explores potential links between perception of optical illusions and cognitive styles, proposing further research to investigate these connections.
Scott Alexander hypothesizes a link between transgender identity, optical illusions, and NMDA receptor function, based on survey data and existing research on schizophrenia and autism.
Scott Alexander examines a theory linking autism and schizophrenia to human self-domestication, initially dismissing it before reconsidering its merits in light of Williams Syndrome.
The post explores how Bayesian processes in the brain might explain perception and various mental disorders, linking neurotransmitters to different aspects of Bayesian reasoning.
Scott reviews a book arguing against deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, agreeing with many of its claims but ultimately disagreeing with its conclusion.
The post explores the complex relationship between smoking and schizophrenia, critiquing conflicting studies and cautioning against hasty conclusions about nicotine's effects on schizophrenia risk.
Scott Alexander critiques Bryan Caplan's argument that psychiatric diseases are unusual preferences rather than real illnesses, providing counterarguments and evidence to show this view is untenable.