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of Contents R & D Predicators of Schizophrenia Dr. Mary Cannon, Institute of Psychiatry, London, presented findings at the 2001 Sarasota Symposium from a Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. The study consisted of a longitudinal investigation of 1,037 children born in New Zealand in 1972-1973. Assessments were conducted beginning at age 3 and concluded with an assessment for schizophrenia at 26. The research showed that children who later developed schizophreniform disorder were significantly impaired in motor development, IQ, language and interpersonal skills. Children who later developed mania or neurotic disorders had emotional and interpersonal problems but no difficulty in other areas of function. These findings support a profile of early developmental impairment indicating schizophrenia. The "New York High Risk Project" at Columbia University examined childhood developmental abnormalities among genetically high-risk individuals. Subjects had at least one parent with schizophrenia, or with an affective disorder, and were measured on attention, verbal memory and motor ability in childhood. Follow up was conducted for schizophrenia and affective disorders in adulthood. Dr. Erlenmeyer-Kimling found that impaired attention, verbal memory and motor skills were the strongest predictors of schizophrenia, with verbal impairment being the strongest predicator. DNA Talk A study at the University of Toronto, Canada looked at the regulation of gene expression. Most association studies examine DNA however, the amount of expression of that DNA to messenger RNA is also important to the production of encoded proteins. Studies of identical twins have shown differences in gene expression, which indicates influences by environmental factors and chance events. Hormones also affect gene expression therefore; changes during adolescence may help to explain the onset of schizophrenia in later adolescence and early adulthood. The studies above were reported in the NARSAD Research Newsletter, Vol. 13-Issue 2, Summer 2001 Changes in DSM-IV criteria for children The preliminary results of a new study show that modified criteria may help clinicians improve their ability to identify depression in young children. The most significant result was that depressed children had more relatives with major depression, affective disorders and suicide attempts and/or completions compared with the ADHD and control group. Strong correlations existed between the children's self-reported symptoms of depression and social inhibition and internalizing. Depressed preschoolers also had significantly higher rates of internalizing symptoms that the group with ADHD and normal controls. And although preschoolers can be depressed, their symptoms may not fit the DSM-IV criteria which may lead to under diagnosis and inadequate treatment. The above study was reported in Psychiatric News, December 1, 2000.
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