The proposed study is designed to test the hypothesis that negative symptoms evidence in familial and nonfamilial schizophrenia show a different short-term course and it is hypothesized that they are associated with different underlying cognitive deficits. It is hypothesized that negative symptoms in familial schizophrenia will be associated with smooth-pursuit eye-tracking deficits; negative symptoms in nonfamilial schizophrenia are predicted to be associated with generalized neuropsychological deficits. Data will be collected from 60 patients who have received an RDC diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, mainly schizophrenic. Patients will be recruited for the study only if their duration of illness is less than two years. First- and second-degree relatives of all participating patients will be diagnosed using SADS-L procedures or the Family History Method. On the basis of these procedures, patients will be assigned to either a familial or to a nonfamilial schizophrenia group. All patients will be rated for negative symptoms and they will also be evaluated for neuropsychological and smooth-pursuit eye-tracking deficits. Patients will be brought back into the hospital four, eight and twelve months after their index hospitalization for reevaluation of negative symptoms; patients will be retested for neuropsychological and smooth-pursuit eye-tracking deficits after the eight month follow-up. Medication status will be carefully evaluated. The data to be collected as part of the proposed study will allow us to demonstrate that subtyping schizophrenia on the basis of family history represents a valid strategy for reducing the heterogeneity of schizophrenia and for studying the pathogenesis of negative symptoms. These data will also provide important information about the manner in which genetic and nongenetic factors contribute to the development of negative symptoms in a sample of recent onset schizophrenics.
| Sautter, F J; McDermott, B E; Cornwell, J et al. (1994) Patterns of neuropsychological deficit in cases of schizophrenia spectrum disorder with and without a family history of psychosis. Psychiatry Res 54:37-49 |
