Developmental psychologist Annemie Ploeger has investigated whether there is a connection between disorders in the first month of pregnancy and the development of schizophrenia and autism. Interestingly, many physical abnormalities of autistics are also prevalent in schizophrenics. For example, both autistics and schizophrenics sometimes have protruding ears and peculiar toes. There are also differences: a large head and intestinal problems, for example, are typical traits occurring in autistics. From this, Ploeger concluded that the two disorders share a common origin. The same error that occurs very early in pregnancy develops into autism in one individual and schizophrenia in another. (Ploeger, A. (2008). Autism and schizophrenia share common origin [PhD Thesis]. Retrieved on Dec. 17, 2008 from http://www.nwo.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOA_7LPL4Q_Eng)
Bernard Crespi’s Psychosis and Autism as Diametrical Disorders of the Social Brain also finds patterns that bridge schizophrenia and autism. Yet schizophrenia seems to display more than one lateraterlization convention and varying corpus callusum widths and lengths depending on the study being explored.
I suspect the schizophrenia, like autism has more than one etiology. Some forms may be closely related to autism as an evolutionary condition. Other forms perhaps early brain trauma related. Schizophrenia timing onset can be related to pubertal timing and differs between the sexes. This feels like a major clue as regards connections to testosterone and estrogen levels.
