BILATERAL INHERITANCE AS EVIDENCE FOR POLYGENICITY IN THE HYPERACTIVE CHILD SYNDROME

Abstract

Recent evidence indicates that the hyperactive child syndrome is at least in part genetically determined. The family data now known are compatible with two modes of transmission: dominance with reduced penetrance, and polygenic inheritance. In this study the family histories of 12 such children are analyzed by the method of Slater: relatives affected with this syndrome or allied adult psychiatric conditions are found on both sides of families more often than would be expected were the genetic component due to the influence of a dominant gene. Polygenic inheritance is thus a likely mode of transmission in this condition.