Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T00:36:51.807Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mirror Imaging in Twins: Biological Polarization – an Evolving Hypothesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

A. Golbin ,
Y. Golbin ,
L. Keith  and
D. Keith
A. Golbin*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinoisat Chicago, and the Department of Psychiatry, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, IL
Y. Golbin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinoisat Chicago, and the Department of Psychiatry, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, IL
L. Keith
Affiliation:
Center for Study of Multiple Births, Chicago IL Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University Medical Schooland the Prentice Women's Hospital and Maternity Center of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL
D. Keith
Affiliation:
Center for Study of Multiple Births, Chicago IL
*
Department of Psychiatry, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, IL, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This study examined sleep patterns in twins, paying special attention to the mirroring phenomenon. Concordance and discordance of sleep related patterns (parasomnias) in a group of 27 monozygotic (MZ) mirror image twins were compared to sleep patterns in a group of 53 MZ non-mirror image twins and a group of 24 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs. Sleep patterns had the lowest concordance among MZ mirror twins. “Mirroring” was observed not only in facial features but also in some physiological patterns such as sleep and sleep deviations. These facts suggest that mirroring in MZ twins is not merely a superficial epiphenomenon, but a reflection of a biological polarization. Biological polarization in this context is a descriptive term emphasizing the role of biological (physiological, biochemical or even genetic) versus psychological or environmental factors causing not only mirror body image but opposite tendencies in the development of personality, professional and sex orientation and, most importantly, the opposite presentation of pathology.

Keywords

TwinsMirror imagingSleepSleep disordersGenetic
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research , Volume 42 , Issue 3-4 , October 1993 , pp. 237 - 243
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1993

References

REFERENCES

1. Boklage, CE (1981): On the distribution of non-righthandedness among twins and their families. Acta Genetic Med. Gemellol 30:167–187.Google Scholar
2. Carton, A, Rees, RT (1987): Mirror image dental anomalies in identical twins. British Dental Journal 162:193–4.Google Scholar
3. Elston, RC, Boklage, CE (1978): An examination of fundamental assumptions of the twin method. In Nance, WE, Allen, G, Parisi, P. (eds): Progress in Clinical and Biological Research. New York: Alan R. Liss, Inc.Google Scholar
4. Gedda, L, Sciacca, A, Brenci, G, Villatico, S, Bonanni, G, Guels, N, Talone, C (1984): Situs viscerum specularis in monozygotic twins. Acta Genetica Med Gemellol 33:81–85.Google ScholarPubMed
5. AC Health (1990). Evidence for genetic influences on sleep disturbances and sleep pattern in twins. Sleep 13:318–335.Google Scholar
6. Kehler, WC (1969): Sleep EEG pattern in identical twins with developmental discordance. Southern Medical Journal 62:17–22.Google Scholar
7. MacGillavray, I, Campbell, DM, Thompson, B (eds) (1988): Twinning and Twins. A. Wiley.Google Scholar
8. McConaghy, N, Blaszczynski, A (1980): A pair of monozygotic twins discordant for homosexuality: sex dimorphic behavior and penile volume responses. Archives of Sexual Behavior 9:123–131.Google Scholar
9. Nik-Hussein, NN, Salceda, AH (1987): Double teeth with hypodontia in identical twins. Journal of Dentistry for Children 54:179–81.Google ScholarPubMed
10. Parisi, P, Keith, D (forthcoming, 1995): The Twin Method in Multiple Pregnancy, Epidemiology, Gestation and Outcome. Eds. Keith, L, Papiernik, E, Luke, B. London: Parthenon Publishing Group.Google Scholar
11. Potter, RH, Nance, WE (1976): A twin study of dental dimension. I. Discordance, asymmetry and mirror imagery. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 44:391–395.Google Scholar
12. Runner, MN (1984): New evidence for monozygotic twins in the mouse: Twinning initiated in the late blastocyst can account for mirror image asymmetries. Anatomical Record 209:399–406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13. Schrader, H, Gotlibsen, OB, Skomedal, GN (1980): Multiple sclerosis and narcolepsy/cataplexy in monozygotic twins. Neurology 30:105–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14. Sognnaes, NF, Rawson, RD, Gratt, NM, Nguyen, YBT (1982): Computer comparison of Bitemark patterns of identical twins. Journal of the American Dental Association 105:449–451.Google Scholar
15. The International Classification of Sleep Disorders Diagnostic and Coding Manual (1990). Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press Inc.Google Scholar
16. Townsend, GC, Brown, T, Richards, LS, Rogers, JR, Pinkerton, SI, Travan, GR, Burgess, VB (1986): Metric analyses of the teeth and faces of South Australian twins. Acta Genetic Med Gemellol 35:179–192.Google Scholar
17. West, VC (1985): Case reports. Mirror-image twins. Australian Orthodontic Journal 9:243.Google Scholar
18. Yager, J (1984): Asymmetry in monozygotic twins. [Letter]. American Journal of Psychiatry 141:719–720.Google Scholar