Motor Symptoms as a Prodrome to Schizophrenia

Abstract

Schizophrenia occurs in 1% of the population and severely impairs those afflicted. Thereby, it is of the utmost importance to recognize and treat the disorder as early as possible. For the last several decades, research has attempted to elucidate various predictive factors to aid in identifying patients at high risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. These factors include premorbid or prodromal movement symptoms. The literature has identified motor aberrations beginning early in life, in some cases even in infancy, ranging from neonatal hypotonicity to facial and upper body dyskinesia. These motor symptoms have been demonstrated to aid in predicting conversion to schizophrenia and carry prognostic importance for other outcomes. We present the case of a 34-year-old male who developed abnormal motor symptoms several years prior to the onset of psychosis. Our case builds upon the current body of literature by demonstrating the importance of spontaneous dyskinesia in evaluating populations at high risk for developing a schizophrenia spectrum illness, such as individuals with a family history of psychotic illness, schizotypal personality disorder, or other prodromal signs.