With schizotaxia in mind as a. core liability for schizophrenia and other spectrum conditions, we will then consider treatments for spectrum disorders more generally,

and directions for future research. Lessons from family studies of nonpsychotic relatives of schizophrenic patients Over the last 15 years, we have made steady progress toward the identification of neuropsychological and structural brain abnormalities Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical among schizophrenic patients and their nonpsychotic first-degree relatives. Through the implementation of ongoing family studies, these data show: (i) the relatively specific neuropsychological deficits in schizophrenic patients and their relatives; (ii) the stability of these deficits over time; (iii) the structural and functional brain abnormalities in patients and relatives; and (iv) the effects of genetic loading on neuropsychological functions and neuroanatomical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical structures. These findings, which form the foundation of Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical current efforts to define, validate, and treat schizotaxia, are described next. Neuropsychological function among adult relatives In an initial study, Faraone et al assessed neuropsychological functioning in 35 nonpsychotic adult relatives of schizophrenic patients and 72 normal controls.6 We used linear combinations of neuropsychological

tests to create scales assessing 10 neuropsychological functions: abstraction/executive function, verbal ability, spatial ability, verbal memory, visual memory, learning, perceptual-motor speed, mental control/encoding, motor function, and auditory attention. Based on previous Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical neuropsychological studies of patients with schizophrenia and our review of family studies,7 we predicted that relatives of patients with schizophrenia would exhibit

deficits in abstraction/executive function, learning and memory, and components of attention (perceptual/motor speed, mental control/encoding, and vigilance). A BAY 87-2243 molecular weight multivariate Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical analysis of variance found the neuropsychological profile of the relatives to be significantly more impaired than the control profile. The relatives performed more poorly and had greater variability on the three predicted functions: abstraction/executive function, verbal memory, and auditory attention/vigilance. They had lower Megestrol Acetate mean scores, but. similar variability on verbal ability and mental control/encoding. They showed more variability, but. not lower mean scores, on learning and motor abilities. The two groups did not. differ in terms of visual/spatial ability, visual memory, or perceptual/motor function. The deficits observed were not accounted for by psychopathology in the relatives, by level of education, or by parental social class. Because we did not.