Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

“Schizoid” personality in childhood: Auditory P300 and eye tracking responses at follow-up in adult life

  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The auditory P300 response and smooth pursuit eye tracking were recorded from a group of 23 male adult subjects who had been diagnosed in childhood as having schizoid personality. No differences were found in these physiological measures between the study group, their matched controls of other child psychiatric patients, and a group of population controls. The essentially negative findings are discussed in the light of abnormalities of these psychophysiological responses previously found in schizophrenic patients, in some of their biological relatives, and in other groups of psychiatric patients, including autistic children and adults with a diagnosis of borderline and schizotypal personality disorder. Results suggest that “schizoid” children, despite their high scores on a measure of schizotypy, do not have schizophrenia spectrum disorder or that schizotypy is a heterogeneous condition.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association (1980).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.) Washington, DC:

  • Baron, M., Gruen, R., Rainer, J. D., Kane, J., Asnis, L., & Lord S. (1985). A familial study of schizophrenic and normal control probands: implications for the spectrum concept of schizophrenia.American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 447–455.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron, M., Asnis, L., & Gruen, R. (1981). The schedule for Schizotypal Personalities (SSP): A diagnostic interview for schizotypal features.Psychiatric Research, 4, 213–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, K., McCallum, W. C., & Pocock, P. V. (1986). Brain indicators of altered attention and information processing in schizophrenic patients.British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 414–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Begleiter, H., Porjesz, B., Bihari, B., & Kissin, B. (1984). Event-related brain potentials in boys at risk for alcoholism.Science, 225, 1493–1496.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackwood, D. H. R., St. Clair, D. M., & Kutcher, S. P. (1986). P300 event-related potential abnormalities in borderline personality disorder.Biological Psychiatry, 21, 557–560.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackwood D. H. R., E. B. Meier, K. P. Muir, W. J. Sharp, C. W., Glabus, M. Walker, M. Souza, V. Dunan J. R., & Goodwin G. M., Correlation of regional cerebral blood flow equivalants measured by single photon emission computerized tomography with P300 latency and eye movement abnormality in schizophreniaACTA Psychiatrica Scandinavica (in press).

  • Blackwood, D. H. R., St. Clair, D. M., Muir, W. J., & Duffy, J. C. (1991a). Auditory P300 and eye tracking dysfunction in schizophrenic pedigrees.Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 899–909.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackwood, D. H. R., St. Clair, D. M., Muir, W. J., Oliver, C. J., & Dickens, P. (1988). The development of Alzheimer's disease in Down's syndrome assessed by auditory event-related potentials.Journal of Mental Deficiency Research, 32, 439–453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackwood, D. H. R., Whalley, L. J., Christie, J. E., Blackburn, I. M., St. Clair, D. M., & McInnes, A. (1987). Changes in auditory P3 event-related potential in schizophrenia and depression.British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 154–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackwood, D. H. R., Young, A. H., McQueen, J. K., Martin, M. J., Roxborough, H. M., Muir, W. J., St. Clair, D. M., & Kean, D. M. (1991b). Magnetic resonance imaging in schizophrenia: altered brain morphology associated with P300 abnormalities and eye track dysfunction.Biological Psychiatry, 30, 753–769.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, P., & Rutter, M. (1990). Genetic influences in autism.International Review of Psychiatry, 2, 67–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Courchesne, E., & Young-Courchesne, R. (1988). Event-related potentials. In M. Rutter, A. H. Tuma, & I. S. Lann (Eds.),Assessment and diagnosis in child psychopathology (pp. 264–299). London: David Fulton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson, G., Finlay, C., Phillips, S., Galpert, L., & Lewy, A. (1988). Reduced P3 amplitude of the event-related brain potential: Its relationship to language ability in autism.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 18, 493–504.

    Google Scholar 

  • Done, D. J., Johnstone, E. C., Frith, C. D., Golding, J., & Shepherd, P. M. (1991). Complications of pregnancy and delivery in relation to psychosis in adult life: Data from the British perinatal mortality survey sample.British Medical Journal, 302, 1576–1580.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebmeier, K. P., Mackenzie, A. R., Potter, D. D., & Salzen, E. A. (1989). Late positive eventrelated potentials in schizophrenia. In J. Crawford and D. Parker (Eds.),Developments in clinical and experimental neuropsychology (pp. 127–136). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebmeier, K. P., Glabus, M., Potter, D. D., & Salzen, E. A. (1992). The effect of different high-pass filter settings on peak latencies in the event-related potentials of schizophrenics, patients with Parkinson's disease and control.Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 84, 280–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faux, S. F., Torello, M. W., McCarley, R. W., Shenton, M. E., & Duffy, E. H. (1988). P300 in schizophrenia: Confirmation and statistical validation of temporal region deficit in P300 topography.Biological Psychiatry, 23, 776–790.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glabus M. F., Blackwood D. H. R., E. B. Meier, K. P. Meier, Souza V., Walker M. T., Sharp C. W., Dunan J. T., & Muir W. (1994). Methodological considerations in measurement of the P300 component of the auditory oddball ERP in schizophreniaElectroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology 90 123–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodin, D. S., Squires, K. C., & Staff, A. (1978). Long latency event-related components of the auditory evoked potential in dementia.Brain, 101, 635–648.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson, J. G., Kolb, J. E., & Austin, V. (1981). The diagnostic interview for borderline patients.American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 896–903.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holzman, P. S., Proctor, L. R., Levy, D. R., Yasillo, N. J., Melzer, H. Y., & Hurt, S. W. (1974). Eye tracking dysfunction in schizophrenic patients and their relatives.Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 143–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holzman, P. S., Solomon, C. M., Levin, S., & Waternaux, C. S. (1984). Pursuit eye movement dysfunctions in schizophrenia.Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 136–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendler, K. S., & Gruenberg, A. M. (1982). Genetic relationship between paranoid personality disorder and the schizophrenic spectrum disorders.American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 1185–1186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendler, K. S., Gruenberg, A. M., & Strauss, J. S. (1981). An independent analysis of the Copenhagen sample of the Danish adoption study of schizophrenia.Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 982–984.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kety, S. S. (1983). Mental illness in the biological and adoptive relatives and schizophrenic adoptees: Findings relevant to genetic and environmental factors in etiology.American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 720–727.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutcher, S. P., Blackwood, D. H. R., Gaskell, D. F., Muir, W. J., & St. Clair, D. M. (1989). Auditory P300 does not differentiate borderline personality disorder from schizoptypal personality disorder.Biological Psychiatry, 26, 766–774.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kutcher, S. P., Blackwood, D. H. R., St. Clair, D. M., Gaskell, D. F., & Muir, W. J. (1987). Auditory P300 in borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia.Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 645–650.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levit, R. A., Sutton, S., & Zubin, J. (1980). Evoked potential correlations of information processing in psychiatric patients.Psychological Medicine, 10, 487–494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindsay, D. T., Holzman, P. S., Haberman, S., & Yasillo, N. J. (1978). Smooth pursuit eye movements: A comparison of two measurement techniques for studying schizophrenia.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 491–496.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowing, P., Mirskey, A., & Pereira, R. (1983). The inheritance of schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A reanalysis of the Danish adoption study data.American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 1167–1171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynn, P. A. (1984).An introduction to the analysis and processing of signals, (pp. 109–112). Macmillan: London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthysse, S., Holzman, P. S., & Lange, K. (1986). The genetic transmission of schizophrenia: Application of Mendelian latent structure analysis to eye tracking dysfunctions in schizophrenia and affective disorder.Journal of Psychiatric Research, 20, 57–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muir, W. J., St. Clair, D. M., & Blackwood, D. H. R. (1991). Long latency auditory event related potentials in schizophrenia and in bipolar and unipolar affective disorder.Psychological Medicine, 21, 867–879.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pfefferbaum, A., Wenegrat, B. G., Ford, J. M., Roth, W. T., & Kopell, B. S. (1984). Clinical application of the P3 component of event-related potentials. II Dementia, depression and schizophrenia.Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 59, 104–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romani, A., Merello, S., Gozzoli, L., Zervi, F., Grassi, J., & Cosi, V. (1987). P300 and CT scan in patients with chronic schizophrenia.British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 506–513.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W. T., & Cannon, E. H. (1972). Some features for the auditory evoked response in schizophrenia.Archives of General Psychiatry, 27, 466–471.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W. T., Horvarth, T. B., Pfefferbaum, A., & Kopell, B. S. (1980). Event related potentials in schizophrenics.Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 48, 127–139.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roxborough, H., Muir, W. J., Blackwood, D. H. R., Walker, M. T., & Blackburn, I. M. (1993). Neuropsychological and P300 abnormalities in schizophrenics and their relatives.Psychological Medicine, 23, 305–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1987). Temperament, personality and personality disorder.British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 443–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verleger, R., & Cohen, R. (1978). Effects of certainly, modality shift and guess outcome on evoked potentials and reaction times in chronic schizophrenics.Psychological Medicine, 8, 91–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, S. (1991). ‘Schizoid’ personality in childhood III: The childhood picture.British Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 629–635.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, S. (1993). Psychiatric morbidity and criminality in ‘schizoid’ children grown up: A records survey.European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (in press).

  • Wolff, S., & Chick, J. (1980). Schizoid personality in childhood: A controlled follow-up study.Psychological Medicine, 10, 85–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, S., Narayan, S., & Moyes, B. (1988). Personality characteristics of parents of autistic children: A controlled study.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29, 143–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolff, S., Townshend, R., McGuire, R. J., & Weeks, D. (1991). ‘Schizoid’ personality in childhood and adult life II: Adult adjustment and the continuity with schizotypal personality disorder.British Journal of Psychiatry, 10, 85–100.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, USA

    D. H. R. Blackwood, W. J. Muir, H. M. Roxborough, M. R. Walker, R. Townshend, M. F. Glabus & S. Wolff

Authors
  1. D. H. R. Blackwood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. W. J. Muir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. H. M. Roxborough
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. R. Walker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R. Townshend
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M. F. Glabus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. S. Wolff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Rosemary Townshend was funded by a grant from the Scottish Home and Health Department; W. J. Muir was supported for part of the time by the Wellcome Trust; and Maura T. Walker by the Medical Research Council and the Leverhulme Trust.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Blackwood, D.H.R., Muir, W.J., Roxborough, H.M. et al. “Schizoid” personality in childhood: Auditory P300 and eye tracking responses at follow-up in adult life. J Autism Dev Disord 24, 487–500 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172130

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02172130

Keywords

Search

Navigation