The genetics of Rain Man and Tennessee Williams

It's often speculated that the genes that predispose toward neuropsychiatric illness have positive effects. In my own research, I had an opportunity to test this idea in a high-functioning population, an entire class of undergraduates. My paper, co-authored with Ben Campbell, was published today in PLoS ONE (Princeton press release here).

We found that an interest in technical fields was predictive of a three-fold increase in the incidence in one's family of autism, which is strongly heritable. Conversely, an interest in humanities and social sciences was linked with three heritable disorders: bipolar syndrome, major depression, and substance abuse.

There are a few upshots here. First, it's been previously suggested that creativity and mental illness are linked. However, the creative populations studied are usually artists. When the study population is creative scientists, the linkage disappears. Our work suggests that it's the specific intellectual interest (arts), not creativity per se. Second, our work fits with the idea that mental illnesses represent extreme outcomes from a generation-to-generation shuffling of genes. Neuropsychiatric problems may be a price that we pay as a species for having a variety of intellectual interests.

Kim-Jong Eun's brain

It's hard to know how Kim-Jong Un will react to his new role. Indeed, his brain might not be quite ready for having access to the nuclear button, as I told the Washington Post.

Considering his father's absolute power, it's quite possible that the younger Kim has had little or no significant stress in his early childhood. This is a bad thing, as we wrote in Welcome To Your Child's Brain. Small, manageable stresses in a child's life build his capacity to deal with large stresses in adulthood...such as staying calm in a faceoff with the West.

Autism is on the rise...or is it?

There's a popular belief that autism is on the rise. But what if in years past, cases were not recognized or classified differently? Read this excellent article in the Los Angeles Times. It's an excellent piece of journalism that illustrates an idea that is commonplace among researchers - but not immediately obvious. Further commentary here.

For Chinese readers - Wang Sheng-Hung

For Chinese readers, check out this piece in the World Journal on Wang Sheng-Hung, otherwise known as Sam Wang. If you're using Google Translate...ignore the statement that the book is a "brain resuscitation manual"!

Dyslexia, ADHD, and adolescence - on WNYC today

Last time on WNYC's Leonard Lopate show, Sandra and I got so many calls that Lopate couldn't ask his own questions. Today we're back for more. Tune in today, 1:20 to 2 pm Eastern time, for our return engagement!

Madeleine Brand Show - Parenting On The Edge

Sandra and I will be on her show shortly - KPCC Los Angeles, 89.3 FM. Madeleine is funny and insightful. Tune in!

Redshirting: Some Children Left Behind

In the NYTimes we pointed out that one in 11 kindergarteners have been held back a year compared with when they should have begun school. However, this practice brings very little lasting benefit for a child.

For schools, redshirting has the benefit of reducing work (older kids are easier to control) and increasing test scores. Think of it as "Some Children Left Behind."

If you are interested in the science behind our article, see here (Word document) and here (PDF).