Zur Ätiologie des Schwachsinns

Genetics in Psychiatry

Workers in psychiatric genetics are, with some notable exceptions, psychiatrists first and geneticists second. Neither their medical nor their psychiatric training equips them with an appreciation of scientific method, and their narrow specialization prevents them from keeping abreast of advances in the general field of animal genetics. As things are, this is an important source of weakness; for the general geneticist, whose science is in a much more advanced state, has accumulated facts and theories that have an immediate application in our special field. One has therefore to notice comprehensive reviews of the present position in genetics in relation to the theory of evolution which have recently been provided by Dobzhansky (1941) and Huxley (1942). In what follows the work of Huxley has chiefly been drawn upon, and it is intended to provide a brief summary of the most important of these ideas.

A review of the literature on the relationship of epilepsy and intelligence in school children

A review such as this is not the place, nor has it the space in which to discuss the nature of intelligence. Some conclusion, however, must be reached as to the factors to be considered in estimating any correlation, positive or negative, between level of intelligence and degree of epilepsy.