Neurological soft signs in never-treated schizophrenia

Objective: Studies of Neurological Soft Signs (NSS) in schizophrenia are confounded by handedness, inconsistent methodology, and prior treatment with neuroleptics. The study objective is to examine NSS in never-treated schizophrenia. Method: We examined the NSS in treatment-naive schizophrenia patients (n = 21) and age, sex, education, and handedness matched normal controls (n = 21) using the modified Neurological Evaluation Scale with good inter-rater reliability. Results: Schizophrenia patients had significantly more NSS than normals. No significant correlation was found between illness duration and NSS. Conclusion: Higher neurological signs in never-treated patients and their lack of association with illness duration suggest neurodevelopmental etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia.