Maintenance of grip-induced muscle tension: a behavioral marker for schizophrenia
Article Abstract:
Despite findings suggesting that a variety of variables may be directly linked to schizophrenia, some researchers maintain that no ideal, or accurate, markers exist. Recent evidence, however, indicates that motor abnormalities may indeed be used as markers of vulnerability for schizophrenia, but the absence of sensitive and reliable laboratory measures of motor dysfunction have hampered further investigation in this area. In the present study, four different trials measured the abilities of 18 subjects to maintain a grip at a prescribed level on a dynamometer which measured the muscle tension involved in the grip. The data were able to differentiate between schizophrenic patients, normal controls, and controls with depressive disorders; schizophrenics were seen to have a deficit in their ability to maintain the grip at the prescribed level. First degree relatives of schizophrenics (parents and siblings, in this case) showed similar deficits. The results of schizophrenic patients were independent of medication or hospitalization status. It is suggested that the designs of the four experiments allow a systematic and reliable investigation of motor-control, an abnormality that may be a useful behavioral marker of schizophrenia. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0021-843X
Year: 1991
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Normal personality characteristics in identical twins discordant for schizophrenia
Article Abstract:
A study of 20 pairs of monozygotic (MZ) twins discordant for schizophrenia showed schizophrenic twins reflecting more deviance than normal twins on all the MPQ scales except four and remarkable personality deviation related to nonshared environmental effects. The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ) was used with, with 11 pairs acting as a control group. The discordant MZ twins show significant degradation of personality resemblances compared to common people, but a group of scales related to Constraint/Psychoticism gave noticeable correlations.
Publication Name: Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0021-843X
Year: 1995
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Modification of performance on the span of apprehension, a putative marker of vulnerability to schizophrenia
Article Abstract:
The effectiveness of contingent monetary reinforcement and enhanced instruction in modifying apprehension performance span in chronic schizophrenia inpatients was examined. Results revealed that the combination of both intervention approaches was more effective in enhancing patient performance, compared to using each approach by its lonesome or to repeated practice. Patients who underwent the combined approach managed to maintain high levels of performance for as long as one week following the intervention.
Publication Name: Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Subject: Psychology and mental health
ISSN: 0021-843X
Year: 1995
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