Chunk #18 — DIMENSIONS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN NEUROLEPTIC-NAÏVE PATIENTS WITH RECENT-ONSET SCHIZOPHRENIA — Predictive validity of neurodevelopmental markers (MPAs and NSS) as a composite endophenotype of schizophrenia and its relationship with symptom dimensions
MPA and NSS in combination may prove to be a more robust endophenotype of schizophrenia, providing a quantitative evaluation of what was previously described as schizotaxia by Meehl.[46] We aimed at co-assessing both these neurodevelopmental markers in neuroleptic-naïve, recent-onset schizophrenia (NRS) subjects in comparison to healthy control subjects (HS), in order to explore the predictive validity of this composite endophenotype. We administered the Modified Waldrop Scale (MWS) and the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES) to evaluate MPA and NSS, respectively, in 40 NRS and 30 matched HS. The MWS assesses 12 MPAs located in the eyes, ears, oral cavity, hands, and feet, whereas the NES consists of 30 items which may be classified into three sub-scales, viz., sensory integration, motor coordination, and sequencing of complex motor tasks. NRS subjects had significantly higher frequencies of MPAs and NSS than HS. The presence of MPAs predicted higher positive symptoms, negative symptoms, general psychopathology, as well as overall severity of psychopathology, whereas NSS did not show significant correlation with psychopathology indices. NRS and HS were most accurately classified (82.9%) when MPA and NSS were
