Visual-Motor Disorders in Infants at Risk for Schizophrenia

Abstract

Visual-motor development was measured from birth to two years in ten infants born to schizophrenic mothers, in a study of evolving disorders at various levels of brain function. On independent psychological evaluation after ten years, one child was schizophrenic and seven had severe to moderate disorders. Retardation of midline, bimanual manipulation in the first year was related to later emotional impairment. Failure on the formboard in the second year was related to visual-spatial deficits on the block design subtest of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. This corroborates earlier evidence of poor neurologic integration in infants vulnerable to schizophrenia, and suggests an early mechanism for the poor integration of vision and proprioception seen in schizophrenic adults.