Schizotypy and language: A review

Abstract

The schizotypal personality trait of odd speech shares features with disorganized speech in schizophrenia. Meehl's original model of schizotypy as manifestation of a genetic diathesis for schizophrenia included odd speech as a core feature, a view supported by results of subsequent family-genetic studies. Researchers have investigated the mechanisms of unusual language production in schizotypy using neuropsychological and neurophysiological methods. The results suggest that schizotypy is associated with differences in how meaningful stimuli activate related concepts in semantic memory, but the pattern of these results is mixed – with different studies reporting either increased or decreased activation of related concepts in schizotypy. However, these apparently discordant results may reflect increased activation of weakly related concepts at shorter intervals following meaningful stimuli, together with underactivation of both strongly and weakly related concepts at longer intervals. Further research is needed to clarify the neurophysiological basis of these anomalies, and the exact conditions under which each occurs; and to ascertain whether either or both mediate unusual speech. This knowledge could point to analogous mechanisms underlying schizophrenic disorganized speech.