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In this comprehensive review, Benjamin's remarks on The Effects of Attitudes and Convictions Upon Research Design and Research Findings (his subtitle) are of greatest interest.
Studies of neuropathology, pathological morphology of the endocrines, and physiology of schizophrenia are not necessarily of etiological significance. Pedigree and twin studies have established that genetic factors play some important role in the etiology of some schizophrenias. These studies raise the question of the importance of genetic factors alone in the production of 'process' schizophrenia and of certain experiences in 'reactive' schizophrenia. Can hereditary factors be traced in ego functions or in the organization of primary drives?
Electroencephalograms of schizophrenics are fairly consistently found to be abnormal. Recent endocrinological studies show some initial promise, especially in determining the psychophysiology of schizophrenic regression; however the experimental psychoses differ in important elements from clinical schizophrenia. Working from the idea that the adrenals are involved in schizophrenia, and that mescaline and adrenaline are structurally similar, a metabolic derivative of noradrenaline has been postulated as the causative agent in schizophrenia. Adrenochrome is found to be hallucinogenic, but is not found in vivo. The investigations of serotonin hold greater promise, since it is a known brain metabolite. While the role of serotonin in schizophrenia is in doubt, abnormal indole derivatives have been found in the urine of schizophrenics. Blood substances in schizophrenia are under intensive investigation.
The complexities of psychiatric research require that the problem be adequately conceptualized within available knowledge. The eradication of psychophobia in biologists and biophobia in psychiatrists depends on the psychiatrist's capacity to understand and deal with the motivations of both attitudes.