Postural sway in first-degree relatives of individuals with schizophrenia

Abstract

Motor abnormalities are well-documented in both schizophrenia spectrum disorders and in individuals at clinical or genetic risk for these disorders (Walther and Mittal, 2017). Like motor control generally, postural control relies on key structures including cerebellum, basal ganglia, and parietal and frontal regions (Surgent et al., 2019). Our group (Apthorp et al., 2019; Kent et al., 2012) and others (Marvel et al., 2004) have found increased postural sway in schizophrenia, as well as in schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) (Apthorp et al., 2019) which is characterized by attenuated features of schizophrenia. Moreover, individuals at ultra-high risk of psychosis have increased postural sway which correlated with both clinical symptoms and cerebellar connectivity (Bernard et al., 2014).