NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING AMONG THE NONPSYCHOTIC RELATIVES OF SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS - A DIAGNOSTIC EFFICIENCY ANALYSIS

Numerous studies suggest that the relatives of schizophrenic patients exhibit neuropsychological impairments that are milder yet similar to those seen among schizophrenic patients. The authors assessed 35 nonps ychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients and 72 normal controls usi ng a clinical and experimental neuropsychological test battery. Three neuropsychological functions met criteria for risk indicators of the s chizophrenia genotype: abstraction, verbal memory, and auditory attent ion. These findings could not be attributed to parental socioeconomic status, education, general visual-spatial ability, or psychopathology. Furthermore, exploratory analyses were performed to determine whether the diagnostic efficiency of the indicators could be adjusted to meet the needs of genetic linkage analyses. These analyses suggest that ps ychometric considerations may help to create measures for genetic link age studies.