Neurological soft signs in adolescents with poor performance on the continuous performance test: markers of liability for schizophrenia spectrum disorders?
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Abstract
There is much evidence that neurological soft signs (NSS) are highly prevalent in
both adults and children with schizophrenia. In addition, they have been detected
as early precursors of a schizophrenic outcome in at-risk subjects. Such findings
point to the possible value of NSS as neurointegrative markers in schizophrenia which
has been hypothesized to be a neurodevelopmental disease. In our study we used a biobehavioral
criterion to select the 'at-risk' group, a sustained attentional deficit as measured
by the continuous performance test (CPT). We compared 140 normal adolescents with
162 'CPT-linked vulnerable' adolescents (index subjects) on a battery for the assessment
of NSS (including laterality), IQ, frontal lobe function and schizotypy. An association
was found between NSS and attentional deficit. Furthermore, index subjects with NSS
were characterized by lower IQ scores, poorer performance on frontal lobe tests and
greater problems with social interaction. There was also a trend for an association
between male sex and both left-handedness and NSS.