@misc{cogprints4033, volume = {125}, title = {Is lateral bias anomalous in early-onset schizophrenia? Selected comparisons with normal populations}, author = {Dr SL Collinson and Dr TJ Phillips and Dr AC James and Dr DJ Quested and Dr TJ Crow}, publisher = {Elsevier Ireland Ltd.}, year = {2004}, pages = {219--224}, journal = {Psychiatry Research}, keywords = {Laterality; Schizophrenia; Handedness; Eye preference; Foot preference}, url = {http://cogprints.org/4033/}, abstract = {The aim of this study was to investigate lateral bias in patients with early-onset schizophrenia. Hand, eye, and foot preferences and relative hand skill were examined in early-onset patients (n=44) and matched controls (n=39), and were compared with population estimates. Patients demonstrated a significant excess in mixed handedness (20.5\% vs. 8.5\%) relative to population estimates and reduced relative hand skill on a pegboard task compared with controls. Left eye preference was significantly less common in schizophrenic patients relative to population estimates. Crossed eye-hand and eye-foot preferences were not significantly increased in the patient group as a whole but were present, respectively, in four of nine and five of nine mixed-handed patients but in none of five mixed-handed controls. These findings are consistent with the view that lateralisation is anomalous in schizophrenia early in the course of illness. } }