Arch Gen Psychiat
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Comparative Study
Neuropsychological functioning in siblings discordant for schizophrenia and healthy volunteers.
To determine whether schizophrenics and their nonschizophrenic siblings have a similar pattern of neuropsychological deficit when compared with normal controls. ⋯ 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. Further work is needed to establish whether particular areas of functioning are selectively impaired in relatives and to determine whether the performance deficits are mediated by structural and/or metabolic disturbances in specific brain regions.