Neurological dysfunctioning in offspring of schizophrenics in Israel and Denmark. A replication analysis.

Neurological functioning was compared in children at risk for schizophrenia from samples recruited in Israel and Denmark. In both samples neurological signs were assessed in school-age children with one schizophrenic parent and a matched group of children with no mentally ill parents. Multidimensional Scalogram Analysis of data identified, in both samples, a radex structure of neurological functioning, radiating from motor to sensory-perceptual signs. In both samples, the gradient of neurological functioning differed between the offspring of schizophrenics and controls. For both the offspring of schizophrenics and controls, the largest number of children showed no or few signs of neurological dysfunctioning. A subgroup of the offspring of schizophrenics, but not the controls, showed multiple signs of neurological dysfunctioning that varied in pattern among individuals.