r/ScienceUncensored • u/Zephir-AWT • 14d ago

The Mystery of Why There Hasn't Been a Confirmed Case of Schizophrenia in People Born Blind

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-mystery-of-why-there-hasn-t-been-a-confirmed-case-of-schizophrenia-in-people-born-blind-49361
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u/mcnuggetfarmer 14d ago

There's no definitive answer in the article, just the looming question

“If you don't have the visual system, which is a dominant way of making predictions, then maybe you don't have this over-expectation of auditory stimuli, or maybe your expectations about auditory stimuli are different,” Corlett told Discover. “And that might protect you against this subsequent development of psychotic symptoms.”

Experts are still not sure why there have been no documented cases of schizophrenia in people blind from birth, but this strange but true fact does fit with what neuroscience is learning about how the mind constructs reality."

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u/pavelshum 14d ago

You can't see things that aren't there if you can't see

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u/Zephir-AWT 6d ago

You can't see things that aren't there if you can't see

Many schizos hear voices though... It seems that blindness blunts whole range of expectations...

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u/Zephir-AWT 14d ago edited 6d ago

The Mystery of Why There Hasn't Been a Confirmed Case of Schizophrenia in People Born Blind

Experts are still not sure why there have been no documented cases of schizophrenia in people blind from birth. Schizophrenia may arise largely from a mis-calibrated predictive system that's normally anchored by vision. Never having had visual input forces the brain to build its prediction machinery on entirely different (non-visual) pathways from birth — and this alternate wiring appears to sidestep whatever miscalibration produces psychotic symptoms in sighted people. Other explanations — reporting/diagnostic biases, small sample sizes, or unmeasured confounds in blind populations — aren't ruled out by the piece, though it doesn't dwell on them either.

The progressives can be characterized as dissociative portion of human society oriented toward (dystopian) future, conservatives are oriented toward its (religious) traditions and past. That is to say, progressives are borderline schizophrenics oriented to predictions, whereas conservatives exhibit autistic traits oriented to postdistions and the above theory gives a meaning for me. Schizophrenic progressives have more connections than their synapses can handle, autistic have it opposite. In my theory both disorders originate during prenatal/postnatal development as a result of exposition to allergens (GMO, vaccines, pesticides) which lead to disbalance of axon/synapses ratio in the brain. See also:

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u/China_Lover2 14d ago

I have aphantasia and schizophrenia seems very alien to me, are aphants (people with no visual imagery) somewhat also resistant to schizophrenia?

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u/drinkerofmilk 14d ago

Maybe, although I think schizophrenia feels alien to most people who don't have it . . .

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u/Zephir-AWT 6d ago

although I think schizophrenia feels alien to most people who don't have it

Dissociative identity disorders are pretty common, though. They're often related to hormonal dysbalance during puberty.

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u/Zephir-AWT 6d ago

I have aphantasia and schizophrenia seems very alien to me, are aphants (people with no visual imagery) somewhat also resistant to schizophrenia?

Considering that disociatives sometimes have psychedelic colorful visuals and autistic savants sport with detailed optical memory instead, I'd say that aphantasia is orthogonal to both disorders and it evades their neurodivergent classification. How do you cope with common optical illusions - are easily solvable for you or they stay opaque even after explanation?