Association between neurological soft signs, temperament and character in patients with schizophrenia and non-psychotic relatives

Our results show that susceptibility to neurological soft signs (NSS) and to schizophrenia are both related to individual differences in the temperament and character features in non-psychotic relatives of patients with schizophrenia.

High harm avoidance, low persistence, low self-directedness and low cooperativeness contribute to both the risk of NSS and schizophrenia. These findings highlight the value of using both assessments to study high risk populations.

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Neurological soft signs in schizophrenia – The past, the present and the future

What are Neurological Soft Signs:

"A hard sign is an obvious variation from the norm, such as a convulsion, paralysis on one side of the body, loss of a sense organ, etc.

A soft sign is a slight to very slight variation from the norm. Possible examples include a child who walks before crawling, mixed lateral dominance (eg. kicks with right foot, bats left handed, throws right, aims with left eye), dysdiadochokinesis, difficulty in performing rapid alternating movement, and minor problems in balance.

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i really don’t understand this, is it saying that differences in our personalities that are passed onto us from our parents could pre-emp schizophrenia in us?

I get it. The relatives have many of the same psychological and personality traits as the person with sz, It’s true. And that’s why we can live with someone who is in the prodrome without seeing that something is seriously wrong. Even as my son’s sz developed I was thinking, “well, that’s not right, but did he learn that from me? Or from his grandfather?” So it’s not clear if it is learned behavior or pathology. It may never be clear, of course.

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It seems to say that people with schizophrenia have higher persistence but relatives and people with schizophrenia have lower persistence? This confuses me.

I apparently became so conversational as a baby it was scary I’ve been told. Is that a soft sign?

i was a slow learner and i couldn’t control my bladder for years,

My balance was and is poor and comment was made about my gait by my wife. I tend to veer quite a lot when walking as though I’ve had a drink or two too many. Been years since I kicked a football but when I did it was with my right foot. I threw left handed.
I am fairly certain I have fine motor problems. Have always struggled with craft type tasks and my handwriting is poor and laboured. Stirring things when cooking can be a problem as my hand can involuntarily jerk, the more so if stirring vigorously.

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I held my pencil differently, like between my thumb and index finger but supported lightly by the other three until 3rd grade. They didn’t make me change it because I had fine handwriting. It’s when they forced me to conform at private school that screwed me up. To this day I write like a 2nd grader.

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I had to do a search for this thread it’s not showing in the news or any other section.

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Thanks - fixed.

My mom has some of those soft signs. She has low persistence, low self-directedness and low cooperativeness.

I have had high harm avoidance. When I was a kid this was often a topic of discussion with my therapist. Even in college I had that problem.

harm avoidance. I feel like, would this relate to my childhood fear of elevators (wouldn’t use on) boats (would but would then lose my mind in front of my family and they’re friends) etc…I probably still have this just not as specific phobias.