Mental abilities of male relatives of psychotic patients.
OBJECTIVE
Exploration of academic and creative potentials of first-degree relatives of hospital-treated psychotic patients in Iceland.


METHODS
Relatives identified in a previously published family study of psychosis are evaluated, using records available at the National Archives and National Library in Reykjavik. Performance of groups of relatives is compared to that of the general population.


RESULTS
Healthy relatives of patients are found to excel over others in authorship of books of fiction or poetry, in general school performance at age 20 years and in mathematics. These findings apply to both schizophrenia and affective illness.


CONCLUSIONS
Relatives of psychotic patients often exhibit good mental abilities.
Karlsson
J L
JL
Institute of Genetics, Hraunteig 16, Reykjavik, Iceland.
D003405:Creativity; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland; D007360:Intelligence; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008606:Mental Processes; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology; D012042:Registries; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology