The Imprinted Brain: How Genes Set the Balance Between Autism and Psychosis - Hardcover

Christopher Badcock

3.87

46 ratings by Goodreads

9781849050234: The Imprinted Brain: How Genes Set the Balance Between Autism and Psychosis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1849050236 ISBN 13: 9781849050234

Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2009

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"The Imprinted Brain" sets out a radical new theory of the mind and mental illness based on the recent discovery of genomic imprinting. Imprinted genes are those from one parent that, in that parent's interest, are expressed in an offspring rather than the diametrically opposed genes from the other parent. For example, a higher birth weight may represent the dominance of the father's genes in leading to a healthy child, whereas a lower birth weight is beneficial to the mother's immediate wellbeing, and the imprint of the mother's genes will result in a smaller baby. According to this view, a win for the father's genes may result in autism, whereas one for the mother's may result in psychosis. A state of equilibrium - normality - is the most likely outcome, with a no-win situation of balanced expression. Imprinted genes typically produce symptoms that are opposites of each other, and the author uses psychiatric case material to show how many of the symptoms of psychosis can be shown to be the mental mirror-images of those of autism. Combining psychiatry with insights from modern genetics and cognitive science, Christopher Badcock explains the fascinating imprinted brain theory to the reader in a thorough but accessible way. This new theory casts some intriguing new light on other topics as diverse as the nature of genius, the appeal of detective fiction, and the successes - and failures - of psychoanalysis. This thought-provoking book is a must-read for anyone with an interest in autism, psychiatry, cognitive science or psychology in general.

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Review:

Deeply scholarly yet absorbing narrative, The Imprinted Brain will change the way we view the human brain and its functions, evolution, and disordering in mental illness. Badcock has drawn evolutionary biology together with genetics, psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience to demonstrate, for the first time, how genomic conflicts play a central role in how the human brain works, and how the brain becomes dysregulated in social-brain disorders including autism and schizophrenia. --Dr. Bernard Crespi, winner of T. Dobzhansky Prize and E. O. Wilson Award, Evolutionary Biology

During the last 20 years Christopher Badcock has been one of the most creative interpreters of the new ways of thinking about genes, evolution and the human psyche. In The Imprinted Brain he breaks new ground by showing how imprinted genes, genes that act differently depending on whether they are inherited through the maternal or paternal line, can contribute to autism and psychoses. Both theoretical and empirical researchers will be stimulated by the arguments in his new book. --Charles Crawford, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, Simon Fraser University

The Imprinted Brain is a true tour de force, surveying the cutting-edge research in genomics and neuroscience and providing a fresh view on what it means to be male or female, "things people" or "people people," autistic or schizophrenic. You will never look at your parents the same way again! --Satoshi Kanazawa, Reader in Management at the London School of Economics and Political Science, 'The Scientific Fundamentalist', and coauthor of Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters

From the Author:

Christopher Badcock was educated at Maidstone Grammar School and The London School of Economics, where he graduated with a First in Sociology and Social Anthropology. Seeking to find a sound evolutionary, genetic, and neuro-scientific basis for psychoanalysis, he realized that research into autism completely discredited Freud but suggested a completely new basis for understanding the mind and mental illness. With the help of the leading Canadian bio-scientist, Bernard Crespi, he was eventually able to consolidate these insights into the imprinted brain theory outlined here and published a number of co-authored papers on the subject. Christopher Badcock is the author of a dozen books, and today teaches courses on evolutionary psychology, genetics, and sociobiology at the London School of Economics. He lives in London.

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