Deeper into schizotypy and motor performance: Investigating the nature of motor control in a non-psychiatric sample. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Numerous studies have demonstrated that motor control deficits are characteristic of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and those at-risk for the development of the disorder. Recent advances in the quantification of motor dysfunction have confirmed this, but these methods fail to consider an important aspect of subject performance: the qualitative nature of their psychomotor dyscontrol. We report on a novel technique used to quantify the qualitative nature of psychomotor performance and its relation to schizotypy. Control (n = 35) and schizotypic subjects (n = 47) completed a line-drawing task that yields metrics for psychomotor control and predominant frequency. Schizotypes evidenced greater psychomotor dyscontrol and lower predominant frequencies than controls. These results are interpreted as evidence of reduced visual-motor integration, self-monitoring capacity, or adherence to basic motor principles in schizotypes. The potential use of these metrics as putative endophenotypes for the liability for schizophrenia and the implications of these findings for the relationship between schizophrenia and schizotypy are discussed.

publication date

  • March 23, 2015

Research

keywords

  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Schizotypal Personality Disorder

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC4461439

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84930040964

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1038/nnl309

PubMed ID

  • 25887054

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 228

issue

  • 1