Neurologic soft signs in schizophrenia and character disorders. Organicity in schizophrenia with premorbid asociality and emotionally unstable character disorders

F. Quitkin, A. Rifkin and D. F. Klein

Previous studies indicated that for two subgroups of patients, schizophrenics with premorbid asociality (SPA) and individuals with emotionally unstable character disorders (EUCD), central nervous system damage may have etiologic significance. It was hypothesized that these two patient groups would also have an increased number of neurologic soft signs. The relationship of neurologic examination, tests of auditory-visual integration, and intelligence quotient, and diagnoses was studied for 350 patients. Tests of reliability and persistence for all observed signs were performed. The EUCD and SPA groups had increased evidence of neurologic soft signs. Differences in patterns of IQ scores also suggest that different forms of brain damage may be present in these two groups. When the two groups were removed from the larger patient sample, those patients with other types of schizophrenia and character disorder did not exhibit evidence of neurologic impairment. This study of neurologic soft signs adds to the validity of considering SPA and EUCD as separate diagnostic entities.

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