TOWARDS A NEW SCIENCE OF MENTAL DISORDERS: BRIDGING EVOLUTION AND GENETICS


July 01-05, 2024
Erice, Sicily, ITALY


Workshop Organizers

Conference goals

Marco Del Giudice (University of Trieste, Italy)
Adam D. Hunt (University of Zurich, Switzerland)

Purpose of the Workshop

Conference goals

In recent years, the availability of large-scale genomic data has started to revolutionize our understanding of mental disorders at the genetic level, yet is largely theory-neutral, not explaining why risk alleles persist and mental disorders are so common. Conversely, evolutionary psychiatry and psychopathology offer a rich variety of theoretical models and hypotheses to explain mental disorders at the evolutionary level, but have yet to fully take on board the findings of recent genetics. This disconnection is reinforced by the lack of shared conferences and other spaces for dialogue. And yet, the potential for synergy and cross-fertilization is striking; it is time to break down the existing disciplinary barriers and make decisive steps toward an integrative biology of mental disorders. This workshop will bring together emerging and established investigators working on all aspects of evolutionary psychiatry/psychopathology and the evolutionary genetics/genomics of mental disorders. The goal is to facilitate integration by making researchers aware of shared questions, mutually relevant ideas, and complementary scientific tools. Understanding mental disorders will require the theory to meet the evidence: this meeting will move that understanding forward.

Speakers & Topics

Abdel Abdellaoui

Socio-economic status: A social construct with genetic consequences

Riadh Abed

The principles and goals of evolutionary psychiatry

Bernard Crespi

What can genes really tell us about brains and psychiatric conditions? Towards consilience of top-down and bottom-up approaches

Marco Del Giudice

Functional models of psychopathology: the interface of evolution and genetics

Luke Evans

Incorporating complexity into genetic models to examine models of selection

Edward Hagen

Multiple genetic pathways to adversity and depression

Adam Hunt

Solutions for psychiatry from evolution and genetics

Matthew Keller

What modern genomic findings tell us about the evolution of genetic variation underlying psychiatric disorders

Renato Polimanti

Purifying selection and diagnostic heterogeneity contribute to the polygenic architecture of psychiatric disorders

Varun Warrier

Our evolving understanding of neurodevelopment and its implications for some evolutionary theories

Hyejung Won

Functional characterization of psychiatric disorder risk variants