Intermanual coordination in relation to different clinical subgroups in right-handed patients with schizophrenic and other psychotic disorders.
BACKGROUND
Interhemispheric transfer in psychotic patients is still a controversial issue. Based on the fact that intermanual coordination is associated with interhemispheric transfer, scores in intermanual coordination were investigated in patients with psychotic disorders.


METHODS
Intermanual coordination was assessed by alternating finger-tapping in 73 adult right-handed in-patients with schizophrenic and other psychotic disorders and was compared with that of 75 healthy right-handed controls. Five clinical subgroups of patients whose diagnoses were based on the DSM-IV classification were specified.


RESULTS
Scores in intermanual coordination in the patients as a whole did not differ from those of the controls. When, however, different clinical subgroups and various manifestations of symptoms were taken into consideration, the scores among those subgroups differed significantly. For instance, patients with residual schizophrenia and chronic symptoms showed lower values in intermanual coordination than did patients with schizoaffective disorders and prevailing acute symptoms.


CONCLUSIONS
The assessment of intermanual coordination may provide new insights into the functional coupling of both hemispheres in schizophrenic and other psychotic disorders and may be of a certain prognostic value. Because of its non-invasive, fast and simple application, this approach is thought to be especially suited for investigating acute psychiatric in-patients.
Gorynia
Inge
I
Universitätsklinik für Psychiatrie, Campus Charité Mitte, Schumannstr. 20-21, 10117 Berlin, Germany. inge.gorynia@charite.de
Campman
Vincent
V
Uebelhack
Ralf
R
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000502:physiology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D011379:Prognosis; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis