Abstract
Characteristics movement pathology as symptomatic of schizophrenia has long been cited in the literature. This pilot study postulates that these movement features are particular to the illness and distinct from medication side-effects. In conjunction with the National Institute of Mental Health's study on individual responsiveness of schizophrenics to neuroleptics, this study compared movement pathology across neuroleptic and placebo conditions. The videotapes of seven subjects were analyzed according to the Movement Diagnostic Scale, Version B. Of the five movement features postulated to be symptomatic of schizophrenia, and therefore predicted not to differ across medication conditions, ‘integration,’ ‘posture/locomotion,’ and ‘spatial complexity’ showed significant differences. Of the three movement features predicted to reflect medication effect, only ‘mobility’ was found to be significantly different. The results support a relationship between ‘fragmentation’ and large number of hospitalizations. Hence, the study suggests that some extrapyramidal effects of neuroleptic medication remain unrecognized and that the distinction between motor symptoms related to the illness or due to neuroleptics is blurred.
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Wilder, V.N. Effects of antipsychotic medication on the movement pathologies of chronic schizophrenics. Am J Dance Ther 10, 77–94 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02251790
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02251790