tweaks the limbs

This article talks about some research linking cases of prenatal flu with the development of schizophrenia in offspring. It also discusses the possibility that an unfortunate autoimmune response triggered by infection causes the immune system to attack the brain.

My favorite tid-bits include a historical note about why infection has not been researched as a cause of mental illness until now.

In 1896 Scientific American published an editorial entitled “Is Insanity Due to a Microbe?” The question seemed logical, given that microbes were starting to be implicated in other diseases. In the editorial, two doctors described how they had injected cerebrospinal fluid of mentally ill patients into rabbits, which later got sick. The doctors concluded that “certain forms of insanity” could be caused by infectious agents, “similar to typhoid, diphtheria and others.” But when Freudian psychoanalysis became popular in the 1930s, the idea was more or less put to rest.

Also, there is an immediate policy implication based on this research. Pregnant women are currently encourages to get flu shots. If an autoimmune response is responsible for a higher likelihood of mental illness, this may not be such a good idea.

Infected with Insanity: Could Microbes Cause Mental Illness?: Scientific American