Tre. Barnes et al., PRIMITIVE (DEVELOPMENTAL) REFLEXES, TARDIVE-DYSKINESIA AND INTELLECTUAL IMPAIRMENT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA, Schizophrenia research, 16(1), 1995, pp. 47-52
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.