Genain Quadruplets

The Genain quadruplets came to the attention of scientists following the publication in 1963 of the eponymous book edited by David Rosenthal. He described a set of four identical quadruplets, born in 1930, all of whom had developed schizophrenia by their early 20s. Knowing of Rosenthal’s interest in schizophrenia, a Midwestern psychiatrist treating the women informed him about the Genains. This led to their evaluation and long-term follow-up at the National Institute of Mental Health.

The quadruplets and their parents were admitted as inpatients to the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in the 1950s. The sisters were admitted again in the early 1980s. During both admissions, they were studied using state-of-the-art neurobiological techniques. The results of the 1950s-era studies are presented in Rosenthal’s 1963 ...

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