Evolutionarily developed connections compromised in schizophrenia

Martijn P. van den Heuvel; Lianne H. Scholtens; Siemon C. de Lange; Rory Pijnenburg; Wiepke Cahn; Neeltje E.M. van Haren; Iris E. Sommer; Marco Bozzali; Kathrin Koch; Marco P. Boks; Jonathan Repple; Michela Pievani; Longchuan Li; Todd M. Preuss; James K. Rilling

doi:10.1093/brain/awz330

NeuroscienceBrainOct 8, 2019

Peer-reviewed journal article

Evolutionarily developed connections compromised in schizophrenia

Martijn P. van den Heuvel iD, Lianne H. Scholtens iD, Siemon C. de Lange iD, Rory Pijnenburg iD, Wiepke Cahn iD, Neeltje E.M. van Haren iD, Iris E. Sommer iD, Marco Bozzali iD, Kathrin Koch iD, Marco P. Boks iD, Jonathan Repple iD, Michela Pievani iD, Longchuan Li iD, Todd M. Preuss iD, James K. Rilling iD

Abstract

The genetic basis and uniquely human character of schizophrenia has led to the notion of human brain evolution to have resulted in vulnerability to the disorder. We examined schizophrenia-related changes in brain connectivity in the context of evolutionary changes in human brain wiring by comparing in-vivo neuroimaging data from humans, chimpanzees and macaque monkeys. We find that evolutionary changes in human connectome organization overlap with the pattern of schizophrenia-related changes in brain connectivity, with connections evolutionary enhanced in the human brain showing significantly more involvement in schizophrenia pathology than connections shared between humans and non-human primates (effects shown in three independent patient-control datasets). Our findings suggest that the evolution of brain wiring in support of complex brain function in humans may have come at the cost of an increased vulnerability to brain dysfunction in disease.

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