02/06/2025
🧬 I recently came across the concept of cliff-edge fitness functions in evolutionary biology. These functions describe traits that enhance survival or reproduction up to a point, beyond which they become detrimental. For instance, birds benefit from stronger flight muscles to escape predators, but if these muscles become too bulky, they hinder flight, leading to a sudden drop in fitness. Similarly, in psychiatry, this model has been applied to schizophrenia, suggesting that certain cognitive traits—like heightened creativity or abstract thinking—may have been advantageous throughout human evolution. However, when these traits exceed an optimal threshold, they can manifest as schizophrenia, a condition that significantly reduces reproductive fitness. Despite its detrimental effects, schizophrenia remains prevalent, possibly because the underlying traits confer benefits up to a point, and the genetic variations associated with them persist in the population.
This framework might also shed light on misophonia. An acute sensitivity to certain sounds could have been beneficial for early humans in detecting threats or maintaining social cohesion. Yet, in some individuals, this sensitivity may cross a threshold, leading to intense emotional reactions to specific auditory triggers. While this is speculative, it offers a lens to understand how certain maladaptive traits might persist due to their roots in otherwise advantageous adaptations.
Anyway, I, Adeel Ahmad, am now publicly and preemptively staking my claim as the first person to connect cliff-edge fitness functions to misophonia. Should this idea, directly or indirectly, inspire a cure in the year 2047, I will graciously accept credit, citations, or extremely quiet thank-you notes. 😄
