Bruno Schulz and his 1926 Article: “Regarding the Problem of Determining Hereditary Prognosis. The Affliction Prospects for Nephews and Nieces of Schizophrenics”

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Irma Weinberg, a German‐Jewish Neuropsychiatrist/Physician, authored the fourth report from the German Research Institute for Psychiatry in Munich examining the risk for dementia praecox (DP) in particular relatives of DP probands, here first‐cousins. She examined 977 cousins of 54 DP probands and found a best‐estimate risk of 1.4%. She conducted within‐study analyses, showing a much higher risk for DP in the siblings than cousins of DP probands. She studied DP‐related personalities showing a familial link between these conditions and risk for DP. She demonstrated that the risk for DP in cousins was impacted substantially by the distribution, in ancestors, of psychosis and personality abnormalities. After completing work on this article, Weinberg worked in private practice in Frankfurt, emigrating to the Netherlands in 1934, where she worked at a Jewish psychiatric hospital. In 1943, German occupiers evacuated the hospital, transporting the patients and staff, either directly to Auschwitz or, like Weinberg, to the Westerbork transit camp. On September 4, 1944, Dr. Weinberg was transported to Theresienstadt and soon thereafter to Auschwitz, where she was murdered at the age of 53. Her history raises painful questions about the relationship between genetic studies of psychiatric illness in prewar Germany and the Holocaust.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: She Then Summarizes the Methodology Of Her Inquirymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…She then reviews her nosologic approach to the nonpsychotic members of her pedigrees:

The group of schizoids roughly coincides with Schulz's eccentrics (see Kendler & Klee, 2022c). The group of cycloids includes the hypomanic, depressive and mood fluctuation characteristics.…”

Section: Irma Weinberg's Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Irma Weinberg's Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Irma Weinberg's 1928 paper “on the problem of the determination of heredity prognosis: The risk in the cousins of schizophrenics”

Kendler

Klee

Engström

2023

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The examination of Kraepelin's diagnoses of dementia praecox and manic‐depressive insanity in pedigrees: Studies of Schuppius in 1912 and Wittermann in 1913

Kendler

Klee

2023

In the first two decades of the 20th century, a new approach to psychiatric genetics research emerged in Germany from three roots: (i) the wide‐spread acceptance of Kraepelin's diagnostic system, (ii) increasing interest in pedigree research, and (iii) excitement about Mendelian models. We review two relevant papers, reporting analyses of, respectively, 62 and 81 pedigrees: S. Schuppius in 1912 and E. Wittermann in 1913. While most prior asylum based studies only reported a patient's “hereditary burden,” they examined diagnoses of individual relatives at a particular place in a pedigree. Both authors focused on the segregation of dementia praecox (DP) and manic‐depressive insanity (MDI). Schuppius reported that the two disorders frequently co‐occurred in his pedigrees while Wittermann found them to be largely independent. Schuppius was skeptical of the feasibility of evaluating Mendelian models in humans. Wittermann, by contrast, with advice from Wilhelm Weinberg, applied algebraic models with proband correction to DP in his sibships with results consistent with autosomal recessive transmission. While he had less data, Wittermann suggested that MDI was likely an autosomal dominant disorder. Both authors were interested in other disorders or traits appearing in pedigrees dense with DP (e.g., idiocy) or MDI (e.g., highly excitable individuals).

Bruno Schulz's 1936 book “Methodology of medical genetic research particularly with regard to psychiatry”

Kendler,

Klee

2023

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In 1936, Bruno Schulz published the first detailed, book‐length review of the methodology of psychiatric genetic research, based on his experiences at the German Research Institute of Psychiatry. Emphasis is placed on proper selection of relatives and the ascertainment corrections required for Mendelian transmission models. Twin studies are considered as is the impact of reduced fertility on patterns of risk. For the field work, Schulz emphasizes the importance of trust‐building, confidentiality, collateral informants, and the use of medical and other administrative records, all ideally stored in personal files. Several methods of age‐correction are reviewed. Schulz provides detailed algebraic treatments of these and other problems, including tests for etiologic homogeneity, with worked examples. He emphasizes two fundamental concerns in psychiatric genetics research: (i) its inter‐dependency with the optimal diagnostic boundaries, which are rarely known and (ii) the genetic homogeneity of clinical samples. Given these problems, he is pessimistic about finding Mendelian transmission patterns. He assesses the predominant 19th‐century method of psychiatric genetic investigation—“hereditary burden”—to be crude and biased by family size. Although written at a time of consolidation of Nazi power in Germany, this book nowhere endorses their racial/eugenic policies and can be seen as subtly questioning them.