Evolutionary psychology aims to understand the origins of the human mind, including disease. Several theories about the origins of disease have been proposed. One concerns a developmental mismatch—a mismatch might occur at the individual level between the environment experienced during childhood and the environment the adult finds herself in, possibly resulting in disease. A second theory concerns the idea of an evolutionary mismatch—humans are adapted to ancestral conditions so they might now experience a mismatch with their modern environment, possibly resulting in disease. A third theory—differential susceptibility—outlines how genetic and epigenetic differences influence the extent to which humans are susceptible to rearing, including positive and negative experiences. Because of these differences, some individuals are more prone to develop disease than others. We review empirical studies that substantiate these theories and argue that an overarching theory that integrates these three lines into one provides a more accurate understanding of disease from an evolutionary perspective.

进化心理学旨在了解人类思维的起源，包括疾病。已经提出了几种关于疾病起源的理论。一个是发育不匹配——童年时期所经历的环境与成人所处环境之间的个体层面可能会发生不匹配，这可能导致疾病。第二种理论涉及进化不匹配的想法——人类适应了祖先的条件，因此他们现在可能会经历与现代环境的不匹配，从而可能导致疾病。第三种理论——差异易感性——概述了遗传和表观遗传差异如何影响人类对饲养的易感程度，包括积极和消极的经历。由于这些差异，有些人比其他人更容易患病。我们回顾了证实这些理论的实证研究，并认为将这三条线整合为一条的总体理论可以从进化的角度更准确地理解疾病。