KLI Colloquia are invited research talks of about an hour followed by 30 min discussion. The talks are held in English, open to the public, and offered in hybrid format.
Join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923
Fall-Winter 2026/27 KLI Colloquium Series
1 October 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Scientific Integration as Fit: The Developmental Biases of Interdisciplinarity
Olesya BONDARENKO (KLI)
8 October 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
The Role of Conversational Cues in the Co-Evolution of Language and Cooperation
Theresa MATZINGER (University of Vienna)
5 November 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Kin Matters: An Intervention in the Fragile Sciences
Robert A. WILSON (University of Western Australia)
19 November 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Modeling the Evolution of Human Early Embryogenesis with Stem Cells
Nicolas RIVRON (Institute of Molecular Biotechnology/IMBA, Vienna)
3 December 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Peter TURCHIN (Complexity Science Hub, Vienna)
10 December 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
On the Cultural Macroevolution of Intentional Cranial Modifications
Marcelo SÁNCHEZ-VILLAGRA (University of Zurich)
14 January 2027 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
DNA from Archaeological Sediments as a Tracer for Past Societies
Benjamin VERNOT (University of Vienna)
28 January 2027 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Beyond Fear: How the Amygdala Links Interoception and Exteroception
Ronald SLADKY (University of Vienna)
KLI Colloquia 2014 – 2026
Event Details
You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
18 April 2024 03:00 PM (CET)
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/69686475041?pwd=NUl6V0VBOGNtb0s4a0ZWd0RhdEtOdz09
Topic description / Abstract:
How has schizophrenia, a condition that significantly reduces an individual's evolutionary fitness, remained common across generations and cultures? Numerous theories about the evolution of schizophrenia have been proposed, most of which are not consistent with modern epidemiological and genetic evidence. I will briefly review this evidence and explore the cliff edge model of schizophrenia. It suggests that schizophrenia is the extreme manifestation of a polygenic trait or a combination of traits that, within a normal range of variation, confer cognitive, linguistic, and/or social advantages. Only beyond a certain threshold, these traits precipitate the onset of schizophrenia and reduce fitness. I provide the first mathematical model of this qualitative concept and show that it requires only very weak positive selection of the underlying trait(s) to explain today’s schizophrenia prevalence. This prediction, along with expectations about the effect size of schizophrenia risk alleles, are surprisingly well matched by empirical evidence. The cliff edge model predicts a dynamic change of selection of risk alleles, which explains the contradictory findings of evolutionary genetic studies.
Biographical note:
Philipp Mitteroecker is Professor at the Dept. of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Vienna and member of the Board of Directors of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research since 2014. In 2024, he became President of the KLI. Philipp Mitteroecker is an expert in geometric morphometrics, the statistical analysis of biological form. More recently his work focuses on questions in Evolutionary Anthropology and Evolutionary Medicine.
