Do Apparent Overlaps between Schizophrenia and Autistic Spectrum Disorders Reflect Superficial Similarities or Etiological Commonalities?

North American Journal of Medicine & Science
William S Stone, Lisa Iguchi

Abstract

STUDY BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia and autism are both neurodevelopmental disorders that were once considered to be the same disorder expressed in different developmental periods. Although they were separated diagnostically about 40 years ago, they share several clinical and possibly, etiological features. This paper reviews overlaps in four domains of function to consider the issue of whether these similarities are sporadic and likely to represent superficial similarities, or whether the disorders are more likely to share some features in common. METHODS: Representative areas of function were reviewed and compared for aspects of cognition (nonverbal reasoning, memory and language), social function (orienting/joint attention, eye contact and theory of mind), brain function (structural differences) and genetics. To facilitate comparisons with schizophrenia, a focus on high functioning autism/Asperger's disorder was utilized, particularly in the sections on cognition and social function. RESULTS: Significant similarities (and differences) characterized comparisons in each domain. CONCLUSIONS: Disturbed function in similar clinical (in cognition and social function), neurobiological (brain volumes) and genetic (e.g., involvement o...Continue Reading

Citations

Sep 10, 2014·L'Encéphale·G HuguetC Doyen
Jan 7, 2015·European Psychiatry : the Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists·J RichterR Henze
Mar 25, 2017·Autism Research : Official Journal of the International Society for Autism Research·Franco CaudaRoberto Keller
Jul 22, 2017·Autism Research : Official Journal of the International Society for Autism Research·Heng ChenHuafu Chen
Oct 17, 2019·Journal of Biological Physics·Stephen Selesnick, Gualtiero Piccinini
Nov 2, 2019·Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders·M A L Mostert-KerckhoffsW G Staal
Jul 12, 2019·Frontiers in Psychiatry·Ruu-Fen TzangHsien-Yuan Lane
Feb 6, 2017·Psychiatry Research·Debbie L KincaidCiaran Mulholland
Aug 12, 2021·The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry·Margherita BechiRoberto Cavallaro

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