Evolutionary psychiatry is a branch of medical science concerning mental disorders, and also a multidisciplinary research field with close relation to psychology, anthropology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and ethology. Although evolutionary psychiatry is a promising area for further psychiatric studies, it is still in its infancy. Thus, there are no certain research methods using evolutionary approaches toward mental diseases. It is still at the level of adopting and applying the research methods of the aforementioned adjacent fields. We aim to investigate a variety of research methods proposed to date and then compare them, which will provide a glimpse of the future of evolutionary psychiatry in the upcoming era.
Anthropology ; Biology ; Ethology ; Mental Disorders ; Neurosciences ; Psychology

Caregiving for the children seems to be one of the most challenging tasks for the parents who should devote themselves totally despite endangering them. From the evolutionary perspective, this human behavior must have been the advantage in the survival of the species and rooted in ethological origin. John Bowlby, a child psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and great developmental researcher, had formulated the attachment theory linking psychoanalysis and ethology through evolutionary biology. His and later following researchers' outcomes have provided enormous influence on viewing parental caregiving and the insight of human relationships and interventions. This article overviews the attachment theory in terms of the goal oriented cybernetic system to gain the survival advantage of the offspring and investigates the evolutionary origin of the caregiving and attachment from the retiles of the Mesozoic era to the mammalian revolution and finally to the human being. Deeper understanding of the nurturance and adult relationships from the standpoint of evolution can provide clinical utility of awareness of clients' lives.
Adult ; Biology ; Child ; Cybernetics ; Ethology ; Humans ; Parents ; Psychiatry ; Psychoanalysis

This study aimed to explore the effect of Ganmai Dazao Decoction on the ethology of rats with posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD) and study the related mechanism through the changes in magnetic resonance imaging and protein expression. Sixty rats were randomly divided into 6 groups, namely the normal group, the model group, the low(1 g·kg~(-1)), medium(2 g·kg~(-1)), and high-dose Ganmai Dazao Decoction groups(4 g·kg~(-1)), and the positive control group(intragastric administration with 10.8 mg·kg~(-1) of fluoxetine), with 10 rats in each group. Two weeks after inducing PTSD by single-prolonged stress(SPS) in rats, the positive control group was given fluoxetine hydrochloride capsule by gavage, the low, medium, and high-dose groups were given Ganmai Dazao Decoction by gavage, and both the normal group and the model group were given the same volume of normal saline by gavage, each for 7 days. The open field experiment, elevated cross elevated maze, forced swimming experiment, and new object recognition test were carried out for the behavioral test. Three rats in each group were selected to detect the expression of neuropeptide receptor Y1(NPY1R) protein in the hippocampus by Western blot. Then, the other three rats in each group were selected to use the 9.4T magnetic resonance imaging experiment to observe the overall structural changes in the brain region and the anisotropy fraction of the hippocampus. The results of the open field experiment showed that the total distance and central distance of rats in the model group were significantly lower than those in the normal group, and the total distance and central distance of rats in the middle and high-dose Ganmai Dazao Decoction groups were higher than those in the model group. The results of the elevated cross maze test showed that medium and high-dose Ganmai Dazao Decoction remarkably increased the number of open arm entries and the residence time of open arm of rats with PTSD. The results of the forced swimming experiment showed that the immobility time in the water of the model group rats was significantly higher than that of the normal group, and Ganmai Dazao Decoction hugely reduced the immobility time in the water of rats with PTSD. The results of the new object recognition test showed that Ganmai Dazao Decoction significantly increased the exploration time of new objects and familiar objects in rats with PTSD. The results of Western blot showed that Ganmai Dazao Decoction significantly reduced the expression of NYP1R protein in the hippocampus of rats with PTSD. The 9.4T magnetic resonance examination found that there was no significant difference in the structural image among the groups. In the functional image, the fractional anisotropy(FA value) of the hippocampus in the model group was significantly lower than that in the normal group. The FA value of the hippocampus in the middle and high-dose Ganmai Dazao Decoction groups was higher than that in the model group. Ganmai Dazao Decoction reduces the injury of hippocampal neurons by inhibiting the expression of NYP1R in the hippocampus of rats with PTSD, thereby improving the nerve function injury of rats with PTSD and playing a neuroprotective role.
Animals ; Rats ; Ethology ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; Fluoxetine ; Hippocampus ; Maze Learning

House dust mites, Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssius have been identified as the main sources of house dust allergen and are considersed the most important causative allergen in the ethology of allergic respiaratory disease and allergic rhinitis. To evaluate the incidence of positive skin reactivity to house dust mites and relationship between total serum IgE levels and specific IgE antibody to house dust mites, we performed allergic skin test (scratch) in 182 children with allergic respiatory disease and atopic dermatitis. We also checked serum total IgE by PRIST method and specific IgE antibody to D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus by ELISA. Our results showed that positive skin reaction was observed in 79% of patients in D. farinae, 71% in D. pternyssinus. There was a significant correlation between serum total IgE and IgE antibody specific to D. farinae (r=0.55, p<0.001). Serum total IgE and specific IgE antibody to D. petronyssinus had no significant correlation (r=0.39, p<0.001). D. farinae and D. pteronyssinus had close correlation in the skin test (r=0.82, p<0.0001) and relative concentration of specific IgE antibody (r=0.73, p<0.0001). The agreement between skin reaction and relative concentration of specific IgE to House dust mites was 68% in D. farinae and 63% in D.pteronyssinus.
Child* ; Dermatitis, Atopic ; Dermatophagoides farinae ; Dust* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay* ; Ethology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E* ; Incidence ; Pyroglyphidae* ; Rhinitis ; Skin Tests ; Skin*