?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Evolution+of+the+human+fear-circuitry+and+acute+sociogenic+pseudoneurological+symptoms%3A+The+Neolithic+balanced-polymorphism+hypothesis%0A&rft.creator=Bracha%2C+Dr.+H.+Stefan&rft.creator=Yoshioka%2C+Dawn+T.&rft.creator=Masukawa%2C+Nicole+K%2C&rft.creator=Stockman%2C+Deborah+J.J.&rft.subject=Neuropsychiatry&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.description=In+light+of+the+increasing+threat+of+large-scale+massacres+such+as+terrorism+against+non-combatants+(civilians)%2C+more+attention+is+warranted+not+only+to+posttraumatic+stress+disorder+(PTSD)+but+also+to+acute+sociogenic+pseudoneurological+(%22conversion%22)+symptoms%2C+especially+epidemic+sociogenic+symptoms.+We+posit+that+conversion+disorders+are+etiologically+related+to+specific+evolutionary+pressures+(inescapable+threats+to+life)+in+the+late+stage+of+the+human+environment+of+evolutionary+adaptedness+(EEA).+Bracha+et+al.+have+recently+argued+that+from+the+neuroevolutionary+perspective%2C+medically+unexplained+efferent+vasovagal+syncope+and+medically+unexplained+craniofacial+musculoskeletal+pain+in+young+otherwise+healthy+individuals%2C+may+be+taxonomized+as+stress+and+fear-circuitry+disorders.+In+the+present+article%2C+we+extend+neuroevolutionary+perspectives+to+acute+pseudoneurological+sociogenic+(%22conversive%22)+symptoms%3A+psychogenic+non-epileptic+attacks+(%22pseudoseizures%22)%2C+epidemic+sociogenic+disorders+(DSM-IV-TR+Epidemic+%22Hysteria%22)%2C+conversive+motor+deficits+(pseudo-paralysis+and+pseudo-cerebellar+symptoms)%2C+and+psychogenic+blindness.+We+hypothesize+that+these+perplexing+pseudoneurological+stress-triggered+symptoms%2C+which+constitute+psychopathology+in+extant+humans%2C+are+traceable+to+allele-variant+polymorphisms+which+spread+during+the+Neolithic+EEA.+During+Neolithic+warfare%2C+conversive+symptoms+may+have+increased+the+survival+odds+for+some+non-combatants+by+visually+(i.e.%2C+%22non-verbally%22)+signaling+to+predatory+conspecifics+that+one+does+not+present+a+danger.+This+is+consistent+with+the+age+and+sex+pattern+of+conversive+disorders.+Testable+and+falsifiable+predictions+are+presented%3B+e.g.%2C+at+the+genome-transcriptome+interface%2C+one+of+the+major+oligogenic+loci+involved+in+conversive+spectrum+disorders+may+carry+a+developmentally+sensitive+allele+in+a+stable+polymorphism+(balanced+polymorphism)+in+which+the+gene+expression+mechanism+is+gradually+suppressed+by+pleiotropic+androgens+especially+dehydroxyepiandrosterone+sulfate+(DHEA-S).+Taxonomic+implications+for+the+much-needed+rapprochement+between+the+forthcoming+Diagnostic+and+Statistical+Manual+for+Mental+Disorders%2C+Fifth+Edition+(DSM-V)+and+the+International+Classification+of+Diseases+(ICD)+are+discussed.%0A&rft.publisher=Elsevier&rft.date=2005&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F5255%2F1%2F2005_J.A.D_Pseudoneurol_Symptoms_of_Extreme_Fear.pdf&rft.identifier=++Bracha%2C+Dr.+H.+Stefan+and+Yoshioka%2C+Dawn+T.+and+Masukawa%2C+Nicole+K%2C+and+Stockman%2C+Deborah+J.J.++(2005)+Evolution+of+the+human+fear-circuitry+and+acute+sociogenic+pseudoneurological+symptoms%3A+The+Neolithic+balanced-polymorphism+hypothesis.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F5255%2F