Neurological soft signs (NSSs) and minor physical anomalies (MPAs) are consistently found at higher rates in individuals with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. However, limited research has been conducted on these traits among the biological relatives of these patients. We aimed to identify the possible origins of these traits in schizophrenia by exploring them in patients with schizo...

Cvetić et al (2009) raise extremely interesting points in chosing to investigate soft neurological signs, which have arguably been forgotten by many psychiatrists. These abnormalities are found in 50-65% of patients with schizophrenia, and yet neurological examinations seem to be so rarely performed clinically (Heinrichs & Buchanan 1988). Perhaps it is time for us to consider again how importan...

BACKGROUND Schizophrenia is a chronic, disabling, disorder that affects approximately 1% of the population. The nature of schizophrenia is heterogeneous, and unsuccessful efforts to subtype this disorder have been made. Deficit syndrome schizophrenia (DS) is a clinical diagnosis that has not been placed in main diagnostic manuals. In this study, we aimed to investigate and compare neurological ...

It has yet to be established whether neurological soft signs (NSS), which include poor motor coordination, sensory perceptual difficulties and difficulties in sequencing of complex motor tasks, result from specific or diffuse brain structural abnormalities. Studying the neuroanatomical basis of NSS in healthy individuals may help to identify which brain areas are specifically associated with th...

1 Department of General Psychiatry, Section of Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany, 2 Center for Mental Health, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany, 3 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany, 4 Department of General Psychiatry, Center of Psychosocial Medi...

Recent studies indicate that morphological and functional abnormalities of the cerebellum are associated with schizophrenia. Since the cerebellum is crucial for motor coordination, one may ask whether the respective changes are associated with motor dysfunction in the disease. To test these hypotheses in a clinical study, we investigated cerebellar volumes derived from volumetric magnetic reson...

Schizotypy is regarded as a trait vulnerability for psychotic disorders, yet alone is insufficient for development of a diagnosable disorder. Additional symptoms and psychological distress are necessary for help seeking and transition from an at risk mental state to a clinical diagnosis. The present study investigated the interaction between trait schizotypy, state auditory verbal hallucination...