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Neurological soft signs in adolescents with first episode psychosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Arantzazu Zabala*
Affiliation:
Unidad de Adolescentes, Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, C/Ibiza 43, 28009Madrid, Spain
Olalla Robles
Affiliation:
Unidad de Adolescentes, Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, C/Ibiza 43, 28009Madrid, Spain
Mara Parellada
Affiliation:
Unidad de Adolescentes, Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, C/Ibiza 43, 28009Madrid, Spain
Dolores Maria Moreno
Affiliation:
Unidad de Adolescentes, Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, C/Ibiza 43, 28009Madrid, Spain
Ana Ruiz-Sancho
Affiliation:
Unidad de Adolescentes, Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, C/Ibiza 43, 28009Madrid, Spain
Maite Burdalo
Affiliation:
Unidad de Adolescentes, Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, C/Ibiza 43, 28009Madrid, Spain
Oscar Medina
Affiliation:
Unidad de Adolescentes, Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, C/Ibiza 43, 28009Madrid, Spain
Celso Arango
Affiliation:
Unidad de Adolescentes, Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, C/Ibiza 43, 28009Madrid, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: azabala@mce.hggm.es (A. Zabala).
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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the decrease of neurological soft signs (NSS) during adolescence and to compare this evolutionary process in two groups of adolescents with first episode psychosis: a) schizophrenia and b) non-schizophrenia patients. The structured neurological evaluation scale (NES) was administered to 24 adolescents with first episode psychosis. The number of NSS, the total and subscales scores were correlated with age in patients and in 39 healthy controls. Adolescents with first-episode psychosis had a higher prevalence of NSS than healthy controls; the schizophrenia patients (N = 9) scored higher than non-schizophrenia patients (N = 15). The number of NSS, total score and the scores on three of the four NES subscales correlated inversely with age in the healthy control group. No correlation was found for the schizophrenia group. For the non-schizophrenia group, a significant negative correlation was found only in one subscale. The decrease of NSS during adolescence in the healthy population but not in the patient groups with psychosis may be an indicator of a disturbance of brain processes that occurs during development. We did not find a clear pattern of NSS that distinguished schizophrenia from other psychoses.

Type
Original articles
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier SAS 2006

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