Cerebral dominance and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders in adults with intellectual disability

Studies of the general population without intellectual disability have suggested an association between atypical handedness and schizophrenia‐spectrum disorders (SSDs). Mixed handedness is taken as an index of diminished cerebral dominance or laterality. The present study addressed the question of whether such findings extend to the neurodevelopmentally ‘at risk’ population of adults with intellectual disability and SSDs compared with appropriate controls. Fourteen patients with a dual diagnosis of intellectual disability and SSD were compared with 14 controls with intellectual disability alone. Assessments of self‐reported hand preference and relative hand skill were completed. Self‐report of hand preference revealed highly significantly greater mixed‐handedness in the SSD group. Furthermore, relative hand skill performance was significantly diminished for the dominant hand. The discrepancy between dominant and non‐dominant hand functioning was lower in the SSD group and this association was highly significant. The results of the present study support the usefulness of such detailed laterality assessment in this population. Mixed laterality, over and above that of the population with general intellectual disability and developmental disorder, was associated with SSD. These results are consistent with the neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia and its cognitive neuropsychiatric/neuropsychological sequelae.