Autonomic nervous system characteristics possibly related to a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia.

The aim of this paper is to review the available evidence on what, if any, aspects of autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning might be related to a genetic predisposition for schizophrenia. The review will necessarily attempt to determine those ANS characteristics that distinguish individuals who are more vulnerable to schizophrenia on a statistical basis than the general population and those that may be predictive of schizophrenic psychopathology at a future date. The importance of developing knowledge in these areas is at least threefold. First, if a specific pattern of ANS functioning can be found reliably to distinguish persons who later become schizophrenic from those who do not, it can be used as a selective factor for studies of vulnerable children, thus helping to overcome the bias, as noted by Shakow (1973), toward selection on strictly familial grounds that exists in the current crop of high risk investigations. Second, on a more theoretical level, such knowledge can aid in our understanding of the biological substrate of schizophrenia. Since the studies of Kety and Rosenthal and their collaborators (Kety et al. 1968 and Rosenthal et al. 1971) have shown beyond a reasonable doubt that genetic factors are involved in the etiology of schizophrenia, we can ask next how this genetic factor is expressed. Current biochemical theorizing in schizophrenia is heavily focused on the catecholamines. Since catecholaminergic neurons have an important role in control of the ANS, the study of premorbid autonomic functioning might provide important clues to the operation of this system in the development of schizophrenia. Third, distur-