Abstract
We evaluated 15 patients with schizophrenia (SZ), 16 of their non-schizophrenic siblings (SB), and 31 demographically-balanced normal controls (NC) with a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. SZ were neuroleptic-naive or off-medication and were evaluated at intake and again when stabilized on neuroleptics. SZ and SB were impaired compared with NC, with SB performance intermediate between that of SZ and NC. The shape of the deficit profile was similar in SZ and SB: greatest deficits were seen in verbal memory, abstraction, attention and language functions in SZ, with a non-significant trend in the same direction for SB. Cognitive function in SZ was stable across changes in medication status and clinical state. These results support the hypothesis that impaired information processing aggregates in the family members of schizophrenics and may serve as an indicator of genetic vulnerability to the disorder.
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