Konstantinos N Fountoulakis1, Panagiotis Panagiotidis2, Vasilios Kimiskidis3, Ioannis Nimatoudis2, Xenia Gonda4. 1. 3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Electronic address: kfount@med.auth.gr. 2. 3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. 3. Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. 4. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; MTA-SE Neuropsychopharmacology and Neurochemistry Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; NAP-A-SE New Antidepressant Target Research Group, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Neurological soft signs (NSS) are a group of minor non-localizable neurological abnormalities found more often in patients with schizophrenia and other mental disorders. The aim of the current study was to investigate their prevalence and correlates in healthy controls without family history of any mental disorder. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study sample included 122 normal subjects (66 males and 56 females; aged 32.89 ± 9.91 years old). The assessment included the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES), and a number of scales assessing the subthreshold symptoms (MADRS, STAI) and functioning (GAF). Data on a number of socio-demographic variables were also gathered. The statistical analysis included the development of basic statistics tables and the calculation of Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The results of the current study suggest that more than half of the study sample manifested at least one NSS and approximately 5% more than four. Still, the reported prevalence and NES scores are lower form those reported in the literature probably because of the carefully selected study sample. There were no significant correlations between NSS and any socio-demographic or clinical variable. DISCUSSION: The current study is the first to study NSS in subjects without family history of any mental disorder and reports the presence of frequent silent neurodevelopmental events in the general population, probably in the form of a neurodevelopmental variation and possibly a weak generic rather than specific risk factor.
OBJECTIVE: Neurological soft signs (NSS) are a group of minor non-localizable neurological abnormalities found more often in patients with schizophrenia and other mental disorders. The aim of the current study was to investigate their prevalence and correlates in healthy controls without family history of any mental disorder. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study sample included 122 normal subjects (66 males and 56 females; aged 32.89 ± 9.91 years old). The assessment included the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES), and a number of scales assessing the subthreshold symptoms (MADRS, STAI) and functioning (GAF). Data on a number of socio-demographic variables were also gathered. The statistical analysis included the development of basic statistics tables and the calculation of Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The results of the current study suggest that more than half of the study sample manifested at least one NSS and approximately 5% more than four. Still, the reported prevalence and NES scores are lower form those reported in the literature probably because of the carefully selected study sample. There were no significant correlations between NSS and any socio-demographic or clinical variable. DISCUSSION: The current study is the first to study NSS in subjects without family history of any mental disorder and reports the presence of frequent silent neurodevelopmental events in the general population, probably in the form of a neurodevelopmental variation and possibly a weak generic rather than specific risk factor.
Authors: Leonardo Zoccante; Marco Luigi Ciceri; Liliya Chamitava; Gianfranco Di Gennaro; Lucia Cazzoletti; Maria Elisabetta Zanolin; Francesca Darra; Marco Colizzi Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-02-10 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Konstantinos N Fountoulakis; Elena Dragioti; Antonis T Theofilidis; Tobias Wikilund; Xenofon Atmatzidis; Ioannis Nimatoudis; Erik Thys; Martien Wampers; Luchezar Hranov; Trayana Hristova; Daniil Aptalidis; Roumen Milev; Felicia Iftene; Filip Spaniel; Pavel Knytl; Petra Furstova; Tiina From; Henry Karlsson; Maija Walta; Raimo K R Salokangas; Jean-Michel Azorin; Justine Bouniard; Julie Montant; Georg Juckel; Ida S Haussleiter; Athanasios Douzenis; Ioannis Michopoulos; Panagiotis Ferentinos; Nikolaos Smyrnis; Leonidas Mantonakis; Zsófia Nemes; Xenia Gonda; Dora Vajda; Anita Juhasz; Amresh Shrivastava; John Waddington; Maurizio Pompili; Anna Comparelli; Valentina Corigliano; Elmars Rancans; Alvydas Navickas; Jan Hilbig; Laurynas Bukelskis; Lidija Injac Stevovic; Sanja Vodopic; Oluyomi Esan; Oluremi Oladele; Christopher Osunbote; Janusz Κ Rybakowski; Pawel Wojciak; Klaudia Domowicz; Maria Luisa Figueira; Ludgero Linhares; Joana Crawford; Anca-Livia Panfil; Daria Smirnova; Olga Izmailova; Dusica Lecic-Tosevski; Henk Temmingh; Fleur Howells; Julio Bobes; Maria Paz Garcia-Portilla; Leticia García-Alvarez; Gamze Erzin; Hasan Karadağ; Avinash De Sousa; Anuja Bendre; Cyril Hoschl; Cristina Bredicean; Ion Papava; Olivera Vukovic; Bojana Pejuskovic; Vincent Russell; Loukas Athanasiadis; Anastasia Konsta; Dan Stein; Michael Berk; Olivia Dean; Rajiv Tandon; Siegfried Kasper; Marc De Hert Journal: Int J Neuropsychopharmacol Date: 2019-11-01 Impact factor: 5.176