EYE TRACKING DISORDER IN SCHIZOPHRENIA IS CHARACTERIZED BY SPECIFIC OCULAR MOTOR DEFECTS AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEFICIT SYNDROME

The objective was to determine the relationships between eye tracking disorder (ETD) in schizophrenia, specific ocular motor measures, and t he deficit syndrome. Twenty-five normal comparison subjects and 53 sch izophrenic patients had eye movements tested with infrared oculography using a sinusoidal target. Patients were assessed with the Schedule f or the Deficit Syndrome. For the patients, the distribution of positio n root mean square error (a global measure of pursuit) was best fit by a mixture of two normal distributions. This information was used to d ivide the patients into two subgroups those with and those without ETD . ETD was almost completely accounted for by several specific ocular m otor measures and was significantly associated with the deficit syndro me. The finding that ETD was almost completely accounted for by specif ic 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. (C) 1997 Society of Biologi cal Psychiatry.