THERE is something of the 19th century about the science of dysmorphology. The idea that medical conditions, such as Down's or Angelman's syndromes, whose main consequences are neurological and behavioural, imprint themselves on the body's shape in ways reliable enough to be used for diagnosis sounds disturbingly like phrenology or physiognomy. Be that as it may, they do--and for these and many other developmental disorders, dysmorphology works. Indeed, on this basis, the 16th-century painting a...
THERE is something of the 19th century about the science of dysmorphology. The idea that medical conditions, such as Down's or Angelman's syndromes, whose main consequences are neurological and behavioural, imprint themselves on the body's shape in ways reliable enough to be used for diagnosis sounds disturbingly like phrenology or physiognomy. Be that as it may, they do--and for these and many other developmental disorders, dysmorphology works. Indeed, on this basis, the 16th-century painting a...
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