Sensory and motor secondary symptoms as indicators of brain vulnerability

Abstract

In addition to the primary symptoms that distinguish one disorder from the next, clinicians have identified, yet largely overlooked, another set of symptoms that appear across many disorders, termed secondary symptoms. In the emerging era of systems neuroscience, which highlights that many disorders share common deficits in global network features, the nonspecific nature of secondary symptoms should attract attention. Herein we provide a scholarly review of the literature on a subset of secondary symptoms––sensory and motor. We demonstrate that their pattern of appearance––across a wide range of psychopathologies, much before the full-blown disorder appears, and in healthy individuals who display a variety of negative symptoms––resembles the pattern of appearance of network abnormalities. We propose that sensory and motor secondary symptoms can be important indicators of underlying network aberrations and thus of vulnerable brain states putting individuals at risk for psychopathology following extreme circumstances.

What can autism teach us about the role of sensorimotor systems in higher cognition? New clues from studies on language, action semantics, and abstract emotional concept processing

“…Similarly, MacDonald, Lord, and Ulrich (2014) found both fine and gross movement impairments between the ages of 14e33 months to predict the severity of autistic symptoms (in the sociocommunicative domain). These results all strongly suggest that motor impairments are one of the earliest predictors of autism and thus may be a crucial (though not necessarily syndrome-specific, given their appearance in other developmental conditions Levit-Binnun, Davidovitch, & Golland, 2013]) early signifier of aberrant brain development.…”

Co-occurrence of developmental and behavioural problems in moderate to late preterm-born children

“…A number of neurophysiological and psychosocial hypotheses have been proposed to explain why developmental delay and EBP frequently co-occur 14 31. First, co-occurrence of developmental delay and EBP may be a consequence of aberrations in certain brain networks 31 32.…”

“…First, co-occurrence of developmental delay and EBP may be a consequence of aberrations in certain brain networks 31 32. Children with multiple brain network aberrations may be more vulnerable to exogenous or endogenous disturbances, resulting in a higher risk of both developmental and behavioural problems 31 32.…”

Objective and quantitative equilibriometric evaluation of individual locomotor behaviour in schizophrenia: Translational and clinical implications

“…Above and beyond the traditional imaging and functional methods for direct detection and quantification of the existing brain pathology, indirect integrative (behavioural) methods for quantifying sensory and motor dysfunctions as indicators of brain vulnerability are developed in some interdisciplinary fields of clinical neuroscience, such as clinical equilibriometry . Instrumental equilibriometric methods serve for detecting latent brain dysfunctions at an individual‐patient level in various neurootological, vestibular, and neurological disorders .…”

“…To understand how the abnormal LMPs provide integrative information about the underlying brain dysfunctions, it is important to know that, because of the loss of visual feedback, the investigated patients rely only on their vestibular and kinaesthetic systems, which provide data to the cerebellum for coordinating balance and locomotion . Frontal cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia, and other motor and sensory brain structures also play an important role . Psychological factors, such as attention and emotional arousal, may significantly impact the stepping locomotion .…”