Minor physical anomalies and neuropsychological performance in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.
Item
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Title
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Minor physical anomalies and neuropsychological performance in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.
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Identifier
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AAI3135591
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identifier
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3135591
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Creator
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Donovan, Anne-Marie.
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Contributor
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Advisers: Howard Ehrlichman | Judith Jaeger
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Date
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2003
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Psychology, Developmental | Psychology, Physiological
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Abstract
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Individuals meeting conventional diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia comprise a largely heterogeneous group in terms of patterns of clinical course, outcome, neuropsychological performance, family history of mental illness, severity of disability and presence of brain abnormalities. It would seem that a valid classification system for schizophrenia should take these characteristics of illness into account. Over the past fifteen years, the neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia has emerged; this model proposes the existence of a congenital subtype of schizophrenia in which the putative insult resulting in the illness is from either a genetic predisposition or early environmental hazard occurring at an early point of neurodevelopment. Individuals with this subtype are thought to have an early age of illness onset, insidious onset of illness, poor premorbid cognitive functioning, negative symptoms, cognitive impairment and brain abnormalities. The putative insult causing the illness can also cause minor physical anomalies (MPAs) such as minor abnormalities of the head, face, feet and hands that are of little of no functional or cosmetic consequence. This study explored whether ratings of physical anomalies and craniofacial measurements can distinguish between healthy adults and those with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Patients had significantly more minor physical anomalies than healthy control subjects. The width of the skull base was significantly greater in patients than in normal control subjects. However, ratings of physical anomalies and craniofacial measurements were not clearly related to putative markers of a congenital subtype including earlier age of onset, poor life functioning and lower scores on neurocognitive tests.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
