Neurological soft signs in familial and sporadic schizophrenia

Abstract

Objective: Neurological soft signs (NSS) are a group of minor non-localizable neurological abnormalities found more often in patients with schizophrenia. The aim of the current study was investigate whether there is any difference in their manifestation in familial vs. sporadic schizophrenia.

Material and methods: The study sample included 120 patients suffering from schizophrenia according to DSM-5 (71 males and 49 females; aged 32.79 ± 11.11 years old) and 110 normal controls (57 males and 53 females; aged 33.38 ± 10.14 years old). The assessment included the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES) and the detailed investigation family history. The statistical analysis included exploratory Analysis of Covariance.

Results: The results of the current study suggest that NSS are more frequent in familial cases of schizophrenia and are even more pronounced in cases with family history of psychosis in either first or second degree relatives.

Discussion: Overall the results suggest the presence of a spectrum of increasing severity from healthy controls to sporadic cases, to cases with non-psychotic family history and eventually to cases with psychotic family history, rather than a categorical distribution.

Keywords: Bipolar; Family history; Maternal; Motor integration; Neurological abnormalities; Parental; Paternal; Schizophrenia; Soft neurological signs; Sporadic; Unipolar depression.