Deficits in facial affect recognition in unaffected siblings of Xhosa schizophrenia patients: Evidence for a neurocognitive endophenotype
Date
2008
Authors
Leppanen J.M.
Niehaus D.J.H.
Koen L.
Du Toit E.
Schoeman R.
Emsley R.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The present study in an African Xhosa sample examined whether familial vulnerability to schizophrenia is associated with deficits in facial affect recognition. Healthy comparison subjects, unaffected siblings of schizophrenia patients, and schizophrenia patients were tested with a task requiring rapid recognition of matched positive (happy), negative (angry), and neutral facial expressions. Siblings and patients demonstrated impaired recognition of negative relative to positive facial expressions whereas comparison subjects recognized negative and positive expressions at an equal level of accuracy. These results suggest that deficits in the processing negative affect from social cues are transmitted in families and may represent a heritable endophenotype of schizophrenia. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Description
Keywords
adult, article, clinical article, controlled study, diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, facial expression, female, human, male, priority journal, recognition, schizophrenia, sibling, vision, Adult, Decision Making, Discrimination (Psychology), Emotions, Ethnic Groups, Facial Expression, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Pattern Recognition, Visual, Phenotype, Reaction Time, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, Siblings, South Africa
Citation
Schizophrenia Research
99
03-Jan
99
03-Jan