Elevated number of parental Communication Deviance (CD) has been connected with psychiatric and thought disorders in their offspring. However, no earlier systematic efforts have been made to review this issue. The aim of this study was to survey the existing literature systematically and perform a meta-analysis of this association. A literature search for published and unpublished observational studies on the association of parental Communication Deviance with psychopathology in the offspring was conducted. Multiple electronic databases were searched (from 1960 to 2012) and the reference lists of the resulting publications were scanned. The findings were pooled using random effect meta-analysis. A total of 19 relevant papers were found and accessed. The results showed that a high level of parental CD is associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in the offspring. A large overall effect size (0.79) was found in the meta-analysis. No meta-analysis could be performed on the association of parental CD with an offspring's thought disorders, but the results suggest that such an association may exist. Parental Communication Deviance is associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders in the offspring. High parental CD could be treated as an indicator of a risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder, at least among high-risk groups.

In this study, we addressed the relation between specific deficits in cognitive control and schizotypal symptomatology in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) diagnosed in childhood. We aimed to identify cognitive control deficits as markers of vulnerability to the development of schizophrenia spectrum pathology in ASD. Symptoms of autism and the risk for schizotypal symptomatology were assessed in 29 high-functioning adolescents with ASD, and compared with 40 typically developing adolescents. Cognitive control (response inhibition, mental flexibility, visuo-motor control, interference control, and perseveration) was evaluated for specific association with schizotypal symptomatology. Impaired response inhibition appeared to be strongly and specifically associated with schizotypal symptomatology in adolescents with ASD, especially those with positive and disorganized symptoms. Response inhibition problems could indicate vulnerability to the development of schizotypal symptomatology in ASD. (JINS, 2013, 19, 1–10)

Olfactory hallucinations (OHs) are present in a significant minority of people with schizophrenia, yet these symptoms are under-researched and poorly understood. This study aimed to identify the neuropsychological impairments that associate with OHs in schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were classified into an OH group and a group with auditory-verbal hallucinations (AVHs) and no lifetime history of OHs. Patients were age- and gender-matched to a healthy control group. All participants were assessed using: a test of odor identification; decision-making and socio-emotional tests of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and amygdala function; and a battery of standardized executive tests. Patients, as a whole, performed more poorly than controls on the tests of odor identification, emotion processing and executive function, consistent with previous research. Only two tests of OFC functioning: the Object Alternation Task, taken from Oscar-Berman and Zola-Morgan's (1980a, 1980b) Comparative Neuropsychological Tasks, and a test of “faux pas” understanding discriminated between the OH and AVH patients. Findings provide the first preliminary support for OH-specific neuropsychological impairments associated with OFC dysfunction in schizophrenia. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1–10)

This review identifies similarities between behavioural indicators of children with future schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and prodromal symptoms in the first episode of schizophrenia. An alternative concept of prodrome is described with implications for early recognition, monitoring and intervention of individuals at risk of future schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is theoretically part of the schizophrenia spectrum both clinically and neurobiologically. A liability for developing schizophrenia may be associated with dysfunction of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and its cortical and/or subcortical circuitry. If so, abnormalities on tasks associated with DLPFC functioning among SPD subjects would support the thesis that SPD is neurobiologically related to schizophrenia. Antisaccade and ocular motor delayed response performance, both of which are ostensibly supported by DLPFC circuitry, were assessed among 29 SPD, 17 schizophrenia, and 25 normal subjects. Generally, the SPD subjects' performance was more similar to normal than to schizophrenia groups. There was evidence, however, for inhibition abnormalities in a subgroup of SPD subjects. Antisaccade performance identified more SPD subjects as “abnormal” than delayed response measures.