Neurological signs and sustained attention impairment in schizophrenia

Both neurological signs and attention impairments are often found in schizo phrenia. This study addresses the extent to which neurological signs are re lated to sustained attention impairment. We assessed subgroups of neurologi cal signs using the standardised Cambridge Neurological Inventory (CNI). Su stained attention was measured using a monotone counting paradigm. After ta king into consideration potential confounds such as age, education level an d duration of illness, we explored the correlation between sustained attent ion and groups of neurological signs, as well as with individual signs. We found that "motor coordination" and "disinhibition" signs were significantl y related to sustained attention. The correlation with "sensory integration " just failed to reach significance after correction for multiple compariso n. "Dyskinesia", "catatonia", "pyramidal" and "extrapyramidal" subgroups we re unrelated to sustained attention. The results support the notion of hete rogeneity and diversity in neurological signs (even among soft neurological signs) and argue against the use of a single global measure to embrace all soft neurological signs in schizophrenia.