Magical thinking as a bio-psychological developmental disposition for cognitive and affective symptoms intensity in schizotypy: Traits and genetic associations

Abstract

Schizotypy refers to a set of heritable, continuously distributed personality traits that resemble signs and symptoms of schizophrenia in the general population. It has been argued that studying the genetic background of schizotypy may yield valuable information about the etiology of schizophrenia. This study examined the association between selected genetic factors and schizotypal traits in 346 healthy college students. Self-reported schizotypal traits were measured using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire - Brief Revised. After scrutinizing available genome-wide association studies, we chose a set of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and focused on 8 genes associated with symptoms of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. The analysis revealed that the AA variant of the SNP rs6913660 on the HIST1H2BJ gene was associated with higher intensity of magical thinking, a component of positive schizotypy. Furthermore, the CT variant of the SNP rs778293 on the D-amino acid oxidase activator (DAOA) gene and the CT variant of the SNP rs61867293 on the sortilin-related receptor SORCS3 gene were both related to excessive social anxiety, an aspect of interpersonal/negative schizotypy. By documenting the genetic associations of magical thinking and social anxiety we aim to provide a deeper insight into the translational mechanisms underpinning the emergence of schizotypal traits and individual differences in social functioning and belief formation.