PRIMITIVE (DEVELOPMENTAL) REFLEXES, TARDIVE-DYSKINESIA AND INTELLECTUAL IMPAIRMENT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

Primitive reflexes, also known as higher cerebral, developmental or re lease reflexes, are present in foetal and infant life, and are found i n certain organic brain diseases. They are normally regarded as non-lo calising signs of cerebral immaturity or dysfunction which are uncommo n in the normal population. The main aims of this study were to find o ut whether recent reports of an association between primitive reflexes and severity of cognitive impairment in dementia and between primitiv e reflexes and tardive dyskinesia in schizophrenia could be replicated in a younger population of schizophrenic patients. Forty-eight schizo phrenic patients (mean age 51 years) were assessed for primitive refle xes, involuntary movements and cognitive function, and 58% exhibited a t least one primitive reflex and 23% at least two. No association was found between primitive reflexes and cognitive impairment or between p rimitive reflexes and tardive dyskinesia. These results fail to suppor t the hypothesis that the presence of primitive reflexes in some schiz ophrenic patients indicates a vulnerability to tardive dyskinesia and intellectual decline with advancing age, but long-term prospective stu dies would be required to test this hypothesis adequately. Nevertheles s, these findings support the notion of neurodevelopmental or neurodeg enerative brain disease in at least a proportion of patients with schi zophrenia.