Eye tracking disorder in schizophrenia is characterized by specific ocular motor defects and is associated with the deficit syndrome

David E. Ross, Gunvant K. Thaker, Robert W. Buchanan, Brian Kirkpatrick, Adrienne C. Lahti, Deborah Medoff, John J. Bartko, Jason Goodman, Allen Tien

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

The objective was to determine the relationships between eye tracking disorder (ETD) in schizophrenia, specific ocular motor measures, and the deficit syndrome. Twenty-five normal comparison subjects and 53 schizophrenic patients had eye movements tested with infrared oculography using a sinusoidal target. Patients were assessed with the Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome. For the patients, the distribution of position root mean square error (a global measure of pursuit) was best fit by a mixture of two normal distributions. This information was used to divide the patients into two subgroups, those with and those without ETD. ETD was almost completely accounted for by several specific ocular motor measures and was significantly associated with the deficit syndrome. The finding that ETD was almost completely accounted for by specific measures bridges a gap of interpretation in this field ETD and the deficit syndrome of schizophrenia may share a common pathophysiology of cerebral cortical-subcortical circuits.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)781-796
Number of pages16
JournalBiological Psychiatry
Volume42
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 1997

Keywords

  • Eye movements
  • Mixture analysis
  • Saccades
  • Schizophrenia
  • Smooth pursuit

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biological Psychiatry

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