Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T07:40:05.278Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Age at Puberty and Mental Illness

Towards a Neurodevelopmental Aetiology of Kraepelin's Endogenous Psychoses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Letten F. Saugstad
Letten F. Saugstad*
Affiliation:
Behrensgt 5-0257, Oslo 2, Norway
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The hypothesis of a neurodevelopmental aetiology of manic-depressive psychosis and schizophrenia is based on the relation between onset of puberty and the final regressive events in the central nervous system (elimination of 40% of neuronal synapses), and the discrepancy in body build in the two disorders which is similar to that between early- and late-maturing individuals. The marked rise in manic–depressive psychoses and decline in schizophrenia, particularly the non-paranoid categories, accompanying the decline in mean pubertal age by some four years during the past hundred years are taken as evidence that manic–depressive psychosis affects early maturers and schizophrenia particularly affects late maturers. Gender differences and social differentials accord with this theory. Redundancy of neuronal synapses characterises manic-depressive psychosis, and reduced density of synapses is a characteristic of schizophrenia, whereas ‘normality’, with optimal synaptic density, is in between.

Type
Point of View
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 155 , Issue 4 , October 1989 , pp. 536 - 544
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 1989 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreasen, N. C., Nasrallah, H. A., Dunn, V., et al (1982) Structural abnormalities in the frontal region in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 136–144.Google Scholar
Ashcroft, G. (1982) Biochemistry and pathology of the affective psychoses. In Handbook of Psychiatry 3: Psychoses of Uncertain Etiology (eds Wing, J. K. and Wing, L.), pp. 160–165. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Astrup, C., Fossum, A. & Holmboe, R. (1962) Prognosis in Functional Psychoses. Springfield Illinois: Thomas.Google ScholarPubMed
Astrup, C. & Noreik, K. (1966) Functional Psychoses. Springfield Illinois: Thomas.Google ScholarPubMed
Babigan, H. M. (1980) Schizophrenia. Epidemiology. In Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, III (eds Kaplan, H. I., Freedman, A. M. and Sadock, B. J.), pp. 1121–1131. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.Google Scholar
Baron, M. N., Risch, R., Hamburger, B., et al (1987) Genetic linkage between X-chromosome markers and bipolar affective illness. Nature, 326, 289–292.Google Scholar
Book, J. A. (1953) A genetic and neuropsychiatric investigation of a North Swedish population. Acta Genetica (Basel), 4, 1–100.Google ScholarPubMed
Brundtland, G. H., Liestol, K. & Walloe, L. (1980) Height, weight and menarcheal age of Oslo school children during the last 60 years. Annals of Human Biology, 7, 307–322.Google Scholar
Cantwell, D. P., Sturzenberg, S., Buttoughs, J., et al (1977) Anorexia nervosa, an affective disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34, 1087–1093.Google Scholar
Central Bureau of Statistics (1988) Yearbook 1988. Oslo: Central Bureau of Statistics.Google Scholar
Clausen, J. A. & Kohn, M. L. (1959) Schizophrenia and the social structure. In Epidemiology of Mental Disorder, Publication 60 (ed. Pasamanick, B.), pp. 69–94. Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science.Google Scholar
Crocetti, G. M., Kulcar, Z., Kesic, B., et al (1964) Differential rates of schizophrenia in Croatia, Yugoslavia. American Journal of Public Health, 54, 196–206.Google Scholar
Crocetti, G. M., Lemkau, P. V., Kulcar, Z., et al (1971) Selected aspects of the epidemiology of psychoses in Croatia, Yugoslavia. American Journal of Epidemiology, 94, 126–134.Google Scholar
De Vries, M. (1985) Anorexia nervosa and affective disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 1–2.Google Scholar
Eagles, J. K. & Whalley, L. J. (1985) Decline in the diagnosis of schizophrenia among first admissions to Scottish mental hospitals from 1969–78. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 151–54.Google Scholar
Egeland, J. A., Gerhardt, D. S., Pauls, D. L., et al (1987) Bipolar affective disorder linked to DNA markers on chromosome 11. Nature, 325, 783–787.Google Scholar
Goldberg, E. M. & Morrison, S. L. (1963) Schizophrenia and social class. British Journal of Psychiatry, 109, 785–802.Google Scholar
Goldman-Rakič, P. S. (1989) Development of cortical circuity. International Wallenberg Symposium on Neurobiology of Early Infant Behaviour. Stockholm: 28 August–1 September 1988. New York: Plenum.Google Scholar
Häfner, H. (1987) The epidemiology of schizophrenia. In Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia (eds Häfner, H., Gattaz, W. F. and Yanzarik, W.), pp. 47–74. Stuttgart: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hagnell, O., Lanke, J., Rohrsman, B., et al (1982) Are we entering an age of melancholy? Psychological Medicine, 12, 279–289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Helgason, T. (1979) Epidemiological investigations concerning affective disorders. In Origin, Prevention and Treatment of Affective Disorder (eds Schou, M. & Strømgren, E.), pp. 241–255. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hoch, P. H. & Polatin, P. (1949) Pseudoneurotic forms of schizophrenia. Psychiatric Quarterly, 23, 248–276.Google Scholar
Hollingshead, A. B. & Redlich, F. C. (1958) Social Class and Mental Illness. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Huttenlocker, P. R. (1984) Synapses: elimination and plasticity in developing human cerebral cortex. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 88, 488–496.Google Scholar
Jones, M. B. & Offord, D. R. (1975) Independent transmission of IQ and schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 185–190.Google Scholar
Kasanin, J. (1933) The acute schizo-affective psychosis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 13, 97–126.Google Scholar
Kennedy, J. L., Gluffra, L. A., Moises, H. W. et al (1988) Evidence against linkage of schizophrenia to markers on chromosome 5 in a northern Swedish pedigree. Nature, 336, 167–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kety, S. S., Rosenthal, D., Wender, R., et al (1968) The types and prevalence of mental illness in the biological and adoptive families of adopted schizophrenics. In The Transmission of Schizophrenia (eds Rosenthal, D. & Kety, S. S.). New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Klerman, G. L. (1978) Affective disorders. In Harvard Guide to Modern Psychiatry (eds Armand, M. & Nicholi, M. D. Jr), pp. 253–281. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press.Google Scholar
Knight, R. P. (1954) Borderline states. In Psychoanalytic Psychiatry and Psychology (eds Knight, R. P. & Freidman, C. R.). New York: Internal University Press.Google Scholar
Kretschmer, E. (1921) Körperbau und Charakter. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Langfeldt, G. (1937) The Prognosis in Schizophrenia and the Factors influencing the Course of the Disease. Copenhagen: Munksgård.Google Scholar
Lehtinen, V. & Vaisanen, E. (1981) Epidemiology of psychiatric disorder in Finland. Social Psychiatry, 16, 61–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lundquist, G. (1945) Prognosis and course in manic-depressive psychoses. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (suppl. 35).Google Scholar
Marshall, W. A. & Tanner, J. M. (1986) Puberty. In Human Growth, vol. II (eds Falkner, F. & Tanner, J. M., pp. 171–209. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Mauz, F. (1930) Die Prognostik der Endogenen Psychosen. Stuttgart: Thieme Verlag.Google Scholar
Munk-J⊘rgensen, P. (1985) Decreasing first admission rates of schizophrenia among males in Denmark from 1970 to 1984. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 73, 645–650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, A. & Bj⊘rn-Henriksen, I. (1979) Prevalence and disease expectancy for depressive psychoses. In Origin, Prevention and Treatment of Affective Disorders (eds Schou, M. & Strømgren, E.), pp. 199–206. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Noreik, K. & Ødegård, Ø. (1967) Age at onset of schizophrenia in relation to socio-economic factors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 124, 243–249.Google Scholar
Ødegård, Ø. (1963) Mental disease in Norwegians with a high-school background. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 39, 31–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ødegård, Ø. (1971) Hospitalized psychoses in Norway. Time-trends in 1926–65. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 6, 53–58.Google Scholar
Ødegård, Ø. (1972a) The multifactorial theory of the inheritance in predisposition to schizophrenia. In Genetic Factors in Schizophrenia (ed. Kaplan, A. R.), pp. 256–295. Springfield, Illinois: Thomas.Google Scholar
Ødegård, Ø. (1972b) The epidemiology of the psychoses. In Psychiatrie der Gegenwart, band II, teil 1 (eds Kisker, K. P., Meyer, J.-E., Müller, M. & Strømgren, E.), pp. 213–258. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Ødegård, Ø. (1975a) Social and ecological factors in the etiology, outcome, treatment and prevention of mental disorders. In Psychiatrie der Gegenwart, band III (eds Kisker, K. P., Meyer, J.-E. & Strømgren, E.), pp. 151–198. Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Ødegård, Ø. (1975b) Morbidity and social mobility in an upper class educational group. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 52, 36–48.Google Scholar
Phelps, M., Chugani, H. T. & Mazziotta, J. C. (1989) Metabolic assessment of functional maturation and neuronal plasticity of the human brain. In International Wallenberg Symposium on Neurobiology of Early Infant Behaviour. Stockholm: August 28—September 1, 1988. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Pichot, P. J. (1983) A Century of Psychiatry. Paris: Roger Dacosta.Google Scholar
Price, J. (1969) An anthropometic comparison of psychiatric patients and their siblings. British Journal of Psychiatry, 115, 435–442.Google Scholar
Propping, P. (1983) Genetic disorders presenting as “schizophrenia”. Human Genetics, 65, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rakič, P. (1989) Development of the primate visual pathway. International Wallenburg Symposium on Neurobiology of Early Infant Behaviour, Stockholm August 28—September 1, 1988. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Rawnsley, K. (1982) Epidemiology of affective psychoses. In Handbook of Psychiatry 3, Psychoses of Uncertain Etiology (eds Wing, J. K. & Wing, L.), pp. 134–140. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ribchester, R. R. (1966) Molecule, Nerve and Embryo. Glasgow: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Roy, C., Choudhure, A. & Irvine, D. (1971) The prevalence of mental disorders among Saskatchewan Indians. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1, 383–392.Google Scholar
Russel, G. F. M. (1983) Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. In Handbook of Psychiatry 4: The Neuroses and Personality Disorders (eds Russel, G. F. M. & Hersov, L. A.), pp. 285–297. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sartorius, N., Jablensky, A., Korten, A., et al (1986) Early manifestations and first-contact incidence of schizophrenia in different cultures. Psychological Medicine, 16, 909–928.Google Scholar
Sartorius, N., Jablensky, A., Ernberg, G., et al (1987) Course of schizophrenia in different countries. Some results of a WHO international comparative 5-year follow-up study. In Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia (eds Häfner, H., Gattaz, W. F. & Janzarik, W.), pp. 107–113. Berlin: Springer Verlag.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. (1979) Crude death and infant mortality 1840–1900 in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and England & Wales. Scandinavian Population Studies, 5, 83–97.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. (1981) Weight of all births and infant mortality. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 35, 185–191.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. (1985) The relation between nature and nurture in mental subnormality. Nordisk Psykiatrisk Tidsskrift, 39, 85–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. (1986) An example from the Norwegian register. In Psychiatric Case Registers in Public Health (eds ten Horn, G. T., Giel, R., Gulbinat, W. & Henderson, J. H.), pp. 44–60. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. (1989a) Social class, marriage and fertility in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 15, 9–43.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. (1989b) Mental illness and cognition in relation to age at puberty. Clinical Genetics, 35, 1–12.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. & Ødegård, Ø. (1980) Ingen internasjonal tilnaerming. Nordisk Psykiatrisk Tidsskrift, 34, 455–464.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. & Ødegård, Ø. (1983) Persistent discrepancy in international diagnostic practice since 1970. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 68, 501–510.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. & Ødegård, Ø. (1985) In defence of international classification. Psychological Medicine, 15, 1–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saugstad, L. F. & Ødegård, Ø. (1986a) Inbreeding and schizophrenia. Clinical Genetics, 39, 261–271.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. & Ødegård, Ø. (1986b) Huntington's chorea in Norway. Psychological Medicine, 16, 39–48.Google Scholar
Saugstad, L. F. & Ødegård, Ø. (1987) Inbreeding and the epidemiology of schizophrenia. In Human Genetics (eds Vogel, F. & Sperling, K.), pp. 466–473. Berlin: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shelton, K & Weinberger, D. R. (1986) X-ray computerized tomography studies in schizophrenia. In Handbook of Schizophrenia vol. I. (eds Nasrallah, H. A. & Weinberger, D. R.), pp. 207–250. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Sherrington, R., Brynjolfsson, J., Petursson, H. et al (1988) Localization of a susceptibility locus for schizophrenia on chromosome 5. Nature, 336, 164–167.Google Scholar
Singer, K. (1972) Physique, personality and mental illness in the southern Chinese. British Journal of Psychiatry, 121, 315–319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stein, G. S., Hartshorn, J., Jones, J., et al (1982) Lithium in a case of severe anorexia nervosa. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 526–528.Google Scholar
Stenbäck, A. & Achté, K. A. (1966) Hospital first-admissions and social class. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 42, 113–125.Google Scholar
Stenstedt, A. (1952) A study in manic-depressive psychosis. Acta Psychiatrica et Neurologica Scandinavica (suppl. 79).Google Scholar
Strømgren, E. (1976) Psykiatri (12th edn). Copenhagen: Munksgård.Google Scholar
Strømgren, E. (1982) Development of concepts of schizophrenia, subclassification of schizophrenia. In Handbook of Psychiatry 3, Psychoses of Uncertain Etiology (eds Wing, J. K. & Wing, L.), pp. 3–7, 13–16, 28–32. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Strømgren, E. (1987) Changes in the incidence of schizophrenia? British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 1–7.Google Scholar
Vaisanen, E. (1975) Psychiatric disorders in Finland. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (suppl. 263), 22–33.Google Scholar
Verghese, A., Large, P. & Chiu, E. (1978) Relationship between body build and mental illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 12–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warner, R. (1985) Recovery from schizophrenia. Psychiatry and Political Economy, p. 380. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Watt, D. C., Katz, K. & Shepherd, M. (1983) The natural history of schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 13, 663–670.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weeke, A., Bille, M., Videbech, T., et al (1975) Incidence of depressive symptoms in a Danish county. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 51, 28–41.Google Scholar
Wiersma, R., Giel, R., De Jong, A., et al (1983) Social class and schizophrenia in a Dutch cohort. Psychological Medicine, 13, 141–150.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1978) Mental Disorders. Glossary and Guide to Their Classification in Accordance with the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Disease (ICD–9). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.