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Distinct Associations of Motor Domains in Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—Different Pathways to Motor Abnormalities in Schizophrenia?

INTRODUCTION: Aberrant motor function is an integral part of schizophrenia. In fact, abnormalities are frequently found in patients, in populations at risk, and in unaffected relatives. Motor abnormalities are suspected to be relevant for the clinical outcome and could probably predict the conversio...

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Autores principales: Schäppi, Lea, Stegmayer, Katharina, Viher, Petra V., Walther, Sebastian
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5924816/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29740353
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00129
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author Schäppi, Lea
Stegmayer, Katharina
Viher, Petra V.
Walther, Sebastian
author_facet Schäppi, Lea
Stegmayer, Katharina
Viher, Petra V.
Walther, Sebastian
author_sort Schäppi, Lea
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Aberrant motor function is an integral part of schizophrenia. In fact, abnormalities are frequently found in patients, in populations at risk, and in unaffected relatives. Motor abnormalities are suspected to be relevant for the clinical outcome and could probably predict the conversion from at-risk individuals to schizophrenia. Furthermore, motor function has been argued as endophenotype of the disorder. Yet, which particular motor domain may classify as a potential endophenotype is unknown. We aimed to compare schizophrenia patients, unaffected first-degree relatives and healthy controls for different motor domains. We expected impairments in all domains in patients and in some domains in relatives. METHOD: We included 43 schizophrenia patients, 34 unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients, and 29 healthy control subjects, matched for age, gender, and education level. We compared motor function of four motor domains between the groups. The domains comprise neurological soft signs (NSS), abnormal involuntary movements (dyskinesia), Parkinsonism, and fine motor function including simple [finger tapping (FT)] and complex fine motor function, (i.e., dexterity as measured with the coin rotation test). Furthermore, we tested the association of motor function of the four domains with working memory, frontal lobe function, and nonverbal intelligence for each group separately using within-group bivariate correlations. RESULTS: Schizophrenia patients showed poorer motor function in all tested domains compared to healthy controls. First-degree relatives had intermediate ratings with aberrant function in two motor domains. In detail, relatives had significantly more NSS and performed poorer in the FT task than controls. In contrast, complex fine motor function was intact in relatives. Relatives did not differ from controls in dyskinesia or Parkinsonism severity. DISCUSSION: Taken together, schizophrenia patients have motor abnormalities in all tested domains. Thus, motor abnormalities are a key element of the disorder. Likewise, first-degree relatives presented motor deficits in two domains. A clear difference between relatives and healthy controls was found for NSS and FT. Thus, NSS and FT may be potential markers of vulnerability for schizophrenia. The lack of association between genetic risk and dyskinesia or Parkinsonism suggests distinct pathobiological mechanisms in the various motor abnormalities in schizophrenia.
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spelling pubmed-59248162018-05-08 Distinct Associations of Motor Domains in Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—Different Pathways to Motor Abnormalities in Schizophrenia? Schäppi, Lea Stegmayer, Katharina Viher, Petra V. Walther, Sebastian Front Psychiatry Psychiatry INTRODUCTION: Aberrant motor function is an integral part of schizophrenia. In fact, abnormalities are frequently found in patients, in populations at risk, and in unaffected relatives. Motor abnormalities are suspected to be relevant for the clinical outcome and could probably predict the conversion from at-risk individuals to schizophrenia. Furthermore, motor function has been argued as endophenotype of the disorder. Yet, which particular motor domain may classify as a potential endophenotype is unknown. We aimed to compare schizophrenia patients, unaffected first-degree relatives and healthy controls for different motor domains. We expected impairments in all domains in patients and in some domains in relatives. METHOD: We included 43 schizophrenia patients, 34 unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients, and 29 healthy control subjects, matched for age, gender, and education level. We compared motor function of four motor domains between the groups. The domains comprise neurological soft signs (NSS), abnormal involuntary movements (dyskinesia), Parkinsonism, and fine motor function including simple [finger tapping (FT)] and complex fine motor function, (i.e., dexterity as measured with the coin rotation test). Furthermore, we tested the association of motor function of the four domains with working memory, frontal lobe function, and nonverbal intelligence for each group separately using within-group bivariate correlations. RESULTS: Schizophrenia patients showed poorer motor function in all tested domains compared to healthy controls. First-degree relatives had intermediate ratings with aberrant function in two motor domains. In detail, relatives had significantly more NSS and performed poorer in the FT task than controls. In contrast, complex fine motor function was intact in relatives. Relatives did not differ from controls in dyskinesia or Parkinsonism severity. DISCUSSION: Taken together, schizophrenia patients have motor abnormalities in all tested domains. Thus, motor abnormalities are a key element of the disorder. Likewise, first-degree relatives presented motor deficits in two domains. A clear difference between relatives and healthy controls was found for NSS and FT. Thus, NSS and FT may be potential markers of vulnerability for schizophrenia. The lack of association between genetic risk and dyskinesia or Parkinsonism suggests distinct pathobiological mechanisms in the various motor abnormalities in schizophrenia. Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-04-23 /pmc/articles/PMC5924816/ /pubmed/29740353 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00129 Text en Copyright © 2018 Schäppi, Stegmayer, Viher and Walther. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Schäppi, Lea
Stegmayer, Katharina
Viher, Petra V.
Walther, Sebastian
Distinct Associations of Motor Domains in Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—Different Pathways to Motor Abnormalities in Schizophrenia?
title Distinct Associations of Motor Domains in Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—Different Pathways to Motor Abnormalities in Schizophrenia?
title_full Distinct Associations of Motor Domains in Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—Different Pathways to Motor Abnormalities in Schizophrenia?
title_fullStr Distinct Associations of Motor Domains in Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—Different Pathways to Motor Abnormalities in Schizophrenia?
title_full_unstemmed Distinct Associations of Motor Domains in Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—Different Pathways to Motor Abnormalities in Schizophrenia?
title_short Distinct Associations of Motor Domains in Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—Different Pathways to Motor Abnormalities in Schizophrenia?
title_sort distinct associations of motor domains in relatives of schizophrenia patients—different pathways to motor abnormalities in schizophrenia?
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5924816/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29740353
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00129
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