Eye tracking disturbances in Schizophrenia

Abstract

Purpose: To study the frequency of different types of eye tracking disturbances in schizophrenia. Materials and Methods: Smooth pursuit eye movements were studied by electro-oculography (EOG) in 22 schizophrenic patients (ICD-10 criteria) and 15 age and sex-matched controls. The studied parameters included average pursuit gain, number of saccades, the frequency of different types of saccades (catch-up, back-up, anticipatory saccades), and disturbances during fixation. The results were analysed statistically. Results: The average pursuit gain was significantly affected in patients for target velocity of 30°/sec (p=0.007). The catch-up and back-up saccades were more common in cases than controls but the difference was not significant (p=0.39 and 0.36 respectively). The anticipatory saccades were significantly more frequent in cases than controls (p<0.0001) for both 15°/sec and 30°/sec target velocities. This was also correlated with the duration of illness. Conclusion: Anticipatory saccades are significantly more frequent during eye tracking in schizophrenia and appear to be an objective marker for the disease.

Keywords

• Adult
• Comparative Study
• Electrooculography
• Eye Movements
• physiology
• Humans
• Ocular Motility Disorders
• etiology
• physiopathology
• Oculomotor Muscles
• physiopathology