title: Neurological soft signs in obsessive compulsive disorder: standardised assessment and comparison with schizophrenia.
abstract: While several studies have detected raised levels of neurological soft signs in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), the specificity of these abnormalities remains uncertain. This study used a new standardised measure, the Cambridge Neurological Inventory (CNI), to assess soft signs in 51 subjects with OCD. Comparison was made with data on patients with schizophrenia and a non-clinical control group from a previously reported study. Individuals with OCD showed raised levels of soft signs compared with non-clinical controls in many categories of the CNI: Motor Coordination, Sensory Integration, Primitive Reflexes, Extrapyramidal Signs, and Failure of Suppression. Compared with patients with schizophrenia, the OCD group had lower levels of neurological signs in some CNI categories: Hard Signs, Motor Co-ordination, Tardive Dyskinesia, Catatonic Signs, and Extrapyramidal Signs. However, levels of soft signs in the OCD group did not significantly differ from those in the schizophrenia group in other CNI categories: Sensory Integration, Primitive Reflexes and Failure of Suppression. The significance of these patterns of findings is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK.
authors.forename: D.
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bolton
authors.forename: W.
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gibb
authors.forename: A.
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lees
authors.forename: P.
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raven
authors.forename: J.A.
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: E.
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: R.
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shafran