The Genain Quadruplets

Abstract

The Genain quadruplets are a unique set of monozygous women who are concordant for schizophrenia but discordant for the severity of their disorder. They were studied by David Rosenthal and colleagues at the National Institute of Mental Health in the late 1950's when they were in their twenties and again in 1981 when they were 51. They are faring about as well now as they ever have in their adult lives. The results of psychological tests, some of which were repeated more than 20 years apart, are discussed, as are the effects of medication on attention and memory. The differential response of the Genains to neuroleptic drugs, as well as certain other findings in the 1981 study, leads to a different conclusion about the discordant severity of their disorder from that reached in 1963 by Rosenthal and Quinn. These observations emphasize the value of long-term followup studies in genetically related individuals, with repeated assessments of the same functions.