Schizotypal Personality

This book is devoted to schizotypal personality. It provides a comprehensive overview of our knowledge from some of the world’s leading researchers in the field, and includes reviews of genetics, neurodevelopment, assessment, psychophysiology, neuropsychology and brain imaging. Central themes are the exploration of categorical and dimensional approaches to the understanding of schizotypal disorder and its relationship to schizophrenia. Valuable introductory and concluding chapters set in context the sometimes divergent opinions and findings presented by the book’s contributors and there are reviews of methodological issues and assessment schedules for the benefit of researchers in the field. In setting out to answer, from phenomenological, psychological and neurobiological perspectives, the fundamental question ‘What is schizotypal disorder?’ and to develop coherent etiological models, this book will serve as an authoritative resource for clinicians and researchers interested in this major personality disorder.

• The first book on this major personality disorder • Based on authoritative NATO advanced workshop • Contributions from world-leading authorities • Explores issues at the front of neurobiological and psychological research • Essential reference for clinicians and researchers

List of contributors; Acknowledgements; Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. Conceptual and theoretical issues in schizotypal personality research Adrian Raine and Todd Lencz; Part II. Genetics and Neurodevelopment: 2. Family-genetic research and schizotypal personality Loring J. Ingraham; 3. Schizotypal personality disorder characteristics associated with second-trimester disturbance of neural development Ricardo A. Machón, Matti O. Huttenen, Sarnoff A. Mednick and José LaFosse; 4. Neurodevelopmental processes in schizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder Elaine F. Walker and Susan Gale; Part III. Assessment: 5. Scales for the measurement of schizotypy Jean P. Chapman, Loren J. Chapman and Thomas R. Kwapil; 6. Schizotypal status as a developmental stage in studies of risk for schizophrenia Peter H. Venables; Part IV. Categorical Versus Dimensional Approaches: 7. Tracking the taxon: on the latent structure and base rate of schizotypy Mark F. Lenzenweger and Lauren Korfine; 8. Detection of a latent taxon of individuals at risk for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders Audrey R. Tyrka, Nick Haslam and Tyrone D. Cannon; 9. Fully and quasi-dimensional constructions of schizotypy Gordon Claridge and Tony Beech; Part V. Psychophysiology and Psychopharmacology: 10. Schizotypal personality and skin conductance orienting Adrian Raine, Todd Lencz and Deana S. Benishay; 11. Attention, startle eye-blink modification and psychosis proneness Michael E. Dawson, Anne M. Schell, Erin A. Hazlett, Diane L. Filion and Keith H. Nuechterlein; 12. Brain structure/function and the dopamine system in schizotypal personality disorder Larry J. Siever; Part VI. Neuropsychology: 13. Neuropsychological abnormalities associated with schizotypal personality Todd Lencz, Adrian Raine, Deana S. Benishay, Shari Mills and Laura Bird; 14. Syndromes of schizotypy: patterns of cognitive asymmetry, arousal and gender John Gruzelier; 15. Working memory deficits, antisaccades, and thought disorder in relation to perceptual aberration Philip S. Holzman, Michael Coleman, Mark F. Lenzenweger, Deborah L. Levy, Steven Matthysse, Gillian O\'Driscoll and Sohee Park; Part VII. Brain Imaging: 16. Brain morphology in schizotypal personality as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging Nancy C. Andreasen; 17. The potential of physiological neuroimaging for the study of schizotypy: experiences from applications to schizophrenia Ruben C. Gur and Raquel E. Gur; Part VIII. Conclusion: 18. Schizotypal personality: synthesis and future directions Todd Lencz and Adrian Raine; Part IX. Appendix: semistructured interviews for the measurement of schizotypal personality Deana S. Benishay and Todd Lencz; Name index; Subject index.

‘… it is a valuable resource not only for researchers new to the area but also for those who want a sophisticated overview of both classic findings and the latest biological and methodological efforts … An encyclopedic subject index and the inclusion of a name index also make this an extremely useful reference work … an excellent book … The editors express hope that this book will stimulate researchers to devote ‘even more time and resources to pursuing the causes and prevention of this enigmatic disorder’. It is hard to imagine a stimulus more likely to do so.’ David A. Smith, Clinical Psychology Review

‘… a comprehensive introduction to the field of schizotypal personality … it encompasses what is known about SPD from a biological/medical perspective … it also covers some interesting psychological phenomena … I strongly recommend the book.’ Gerhard Andersson, Scandinavian Journal of Behaviour Therapy