The gait of hypotonic schizophrenic children.

The gait of seven hypotonic schizophrenic children aged between five and eight years was compared with that of seven normal children aged between seven and eight years. Electromyographic studies revealed that in schizophrenic children the tibialis anterior was 'on' during a significantly smaller proportion of the stance phase than in the age-matched controls, and that the quadriceps muscle was 'on' during a significantly smaller proportion of the swing phase than in the controls. In addition, the gait of the schizophrenic children tended to be broad-based and slow, consisting of smaller steps in a longer pace period. In general, the gait of the schizophrenic children resembled that of younger, inexperienced walkers.