URIC Acid and Behaviour: A New Look at Orowan's Hypothesis

Abstract

Current interpretation of Orowan's hypothesis regarding the possible stimulating properties of uric acid has some difficulty in accounting for all the data reported in the literature. A reinterpretation of Orowan's view to include the possibility that uric acid has a curvilinear direct effect, together with an indirect effect via learning, can accommodate the research findings to date.

Intellect and serum uric acid: An optimal concentration of serum urate for human learning?

“…For example, the Yerkes-Dodson law of anxiety and learning demonstrates that some anxiety heightens an individual's learning performance while deviations in either direction from this optimal level produce a decrement in learning performance. A similar phenomenon is predicted (Stevens and Cropley, 1972) for levels of SUA and CNS efficiency. That is, it should be possible to demonstrate experimentally the existence of an optimal level of SUA vis-a-vis the relationship between subjects' serum uric acid levels and their scores on learning tests.…”

“…However, research and clinical data exist (Stevens and Cropley, 1972) suggesting that the interpretation of Orowan's hypothesis should be based on a curvilinear or inverted-U model, implying a psychologically optimal SUA concentration. This inverted-U hypothesis suggests that increases * Reprint requests should be sent to Dr.…”