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Psychiatry Research 87 1999 147᎐157
Neuropsychological functioning among non-psychotic
siblings and parents of schizophrenic patients
Annie Laurent
a,
U
, Olivier Moreaud
b
, Jean-Luc Bosson
c
,
Bernadette Naegele
b
, Jacques Boucharlat
a
, Mohamed Saoud
d
,
¨´
Jean Dalery
d
, Thierry d’Amato
d
a
Department of Psychiatry, Uni
¨
ersity Hospital of Grenoble, BP 217, 38043 Grenoble, France
b
Department of Neurology, Uni
¨
ersity Hospital of Grenoble, BP 217, 38043 Grenoble, France
c
Department of Statistics, Uni
¨
ersity Hospital of Grenoble, BP 217, 38043 Grenoble, France
d
Institut de Psychopathologie Cogniti
¨
e et Neurobiologique, Hopital du Vinatier, 95, Boule
¨
ard Pinel, 69677 Bron Cedex,
ˆ
France
Received 29 December 1998; received in revised form 23 June 1999; accepted 8 July 1999
Abstract
Several studies have shown subtle neuropsychological deficits in healthy relatives of schizophrenic patients.
However, older relatives and parents have been less frequently assessed than younger adult relatives and siblings.
Furthermore, some areas of neuropsychological functioning such as memory and learning have been little studied.
Thirty-seven 22᎐70-year-old non-psychotic parents and siblings of schizophrenic patients were compared to 37
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healthy control subjects on a battery of neuropsychological tests Trail Making, parts A and B, verbal fluency,
Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, and four subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised: logical memory, design
.
reproduction, verbal paired associates and digit span . Relatives did not differ from control subjects on Wisconsin
Card Sorting Test performance and on visual memory, but were significantly impaired on verbal fluency; more subtle
deficits were found on Trail Making, part B, digit span and paired associates. A higher proportion of relatives than
control subjects showed impairment on verbal fluency and verbal memory. These neuropsychological weaknesses
U
Corresponding author, Service de Psychologie Medicale Infantile, BP 217, 38043 Grenoble, France. Tel.: q33-476-765419; fax:
´
q33-476-765830.
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E-mail address: annie.laurent@ujf-grenoble.fr A. Laurent
0165-1781r99r$ - see front matter ᮊ 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
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