Schizophrenia bulletin
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Schizophrenia bulletin · Jan 1989
ReviewGenetic linkage in schizophrenia: perspectives from genetic epidemiology.
Research on the genetic epidemiology of schizophrenia is briefly and selectively reviewed. The following three salient features of schizophrenia that represent challenges to the design of linkage studies are identified: (1) The analysis of twin and family data has consistently failed to identify a single major gene effect upon schizophrenia risk; (2) the ascertainment of multiplex families does not guarantee the sampling of families who are segregating for the major gene even if a major gene effect exists; and (3) environmental influences appear to play an essential role in the etiology of at least some forms of schizophrenia. The implications of these features for the design of linkage studies in schizophrenia are discussed.
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This issue of the Schizophrenia Bulletin provides a forum for the presentation of early results and speculative hypotheses based on the application of molecular genetic methods for linkage studies in schizophrenia. Contributors were given the freedom to explore the historical and theoretical perspectives on the genetics of schizophrenia. ⋯ In this overview, the epidemiologic evidence for a genetic factor in schizophrenia and recent linkage studies are briefly discussed. In addition, the potential and limitations of different linkage strategies in schizophrenia are examined.
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Schizophrenia bulletin · Jan 1989
Impaired perspective and thought pathology in schizophrenic and psychotic disorders.
Impaired perspective was studied in schizophrenic and thought-disordered patients to analyze hypotheses about its role in thought disorder. Eighty-three schizophrenic patients, other psychotic patients, and nonpsychotic patients judged the adequacy of their own and others' verbalizations under several different conditions. Thought-disordered patients had significantly more impaired perspective than nonthought-disordered patients (p less than 0.05). ⋯ When focusing on the adequacy of their response, patients were significantly less idiosyncratic. The results support the hypothesis that impaired perspective plays a role in thought disorder. A more comprehensive model of thought disorder and disorganization, which includes impaired perspective, is discussed.