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The British Journal of Psychiatry (2007) 191: 120-125. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.106.026773
© 2007 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Frontal release signs and cognition in people with schizophrenia, their siblings and healthy controls

THOMAS M. HYDE, MD, PhD, TERRY E. GOLDBERG, PhD, MICHAEL F. EGAN, MD, MARC C. Lener, BA and DANIEL R. WEINBERGER, MD

Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Correspondence: Dr Thomas Hyde, Room 4N306, Building 10, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. Tel: +1 301 496 8848; fax: +1 301 402 2751; email: HydeT{at}mail.nih.gov

Declaration of interest None.

Background Frontal release signs, a subset of neurological soft signs, are common in schizophrenia.

Aims To explore the relationship between frontal release signs and neuropsychological tests of frontal lobe function in people with schizophrenia, their siblings and healthy controls.

Method Neuropsychological tests and frontal release signs were measured in a cohort of index cases (n=302), their siblings (n=240) and healthy controls (n=346).

Results The mean total score of frontal release signs was 1.5 (s.d.=1.58) in the schizophrenia group, 0.54 (s.d.=0.92) for siblings and 0.42 (s.d.=0.77) for controls. Schizophrenia group scores were greater than healthy control or sibling cohort scores (P < 0.0001), which did not differ. In all three cohorts, right grasp reflex scores positively correlated with number of perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sort Task (P < 0.05). In the schizophrenia group, frontal release signs scores showed an inverse correlation with IQ (R=–0.199, P < 0.0005).

Conclusions Our findings of relationships between frontal release signs and cognitive assays of cortical dysfunction and the increased frequency of these signs in people with schizophrenia implicate a cortical origin for these clinical signs and evidence of frontal lobe dysfunction in this disorder.


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BJP 2007 191: A5. [Full Text]  





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