Handedness and epileptic schizophrenia.

Abstract

Thirty-two epileptic patients with RDC diagnoses of schizophrenia were tested for handedness on the Annett Handedness Schedule, and handedness was assigned on the basis of Annett-Maudsley criteria. They were compared with three other groups of patients. Five (15.6%) of the epileptic schizophrenic patients were mixed or left handed. The prevalence of mixed and left handedness did not differ between the samples studied. However, there was a significant reduction of mixed and left handedness in male epileptics with schizophrenia. Mixed or left handedness in male epileptics appears to be protective against the development of psychiatric illness in general.