Schizophrenia and disordered sensorimotor control: challenges, mechanisms and opportunities

Schizophrenia is a common and often disabling neuropsychiatric condition. Whilst sensorimotor abnormalities such as dyskinesia, parkinsonism and motor incoordination are prevalent in schizophrenia, they are often attributed to medication side-effects or classified as neurological soft signs or catatonic phenomena. Here, we outline the prevalence, characteristics and challenges in accurate phenotyping of sensorimotor disturbances in schizophrenia, including amongst medication naïve individuals, demonstrating that sensorimotor dysfunction may be an integral manifestation of the disease process. We then review how current understanding regarding the pathogenesis of schizophrenia supports this possibility and consider how better characterisation of sensorimotor dysfunction may improve management and the development of novel treatments for schizophrenia, playing particular attention to the role of instrumental sensorimotor assessment.