EYE TRACKING DYSFUNCTION IN FAMILIES WITH MULTIPLE CASES OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

There is increasing evidence that the genetic predisposition for schiz ophrenia in families affects more individuals than those fulfilling th e criteria for schizophrenia. This finding is supposed to be one of th e major problems in molecular genetic schizophrenia research, especial ly when linkage studies are employed. Eye-tracking dysfunction (ETD), which is conceived as a possible phenotypic marker for genetic liabili ty to schizophrenia, may offer considerable advantages. However, there is only little information from families with multiple occurrence of schizophrenia. It is still unclear whether in these families ETD aggre gates with diagnoses from the schizophrenia spectrum. This first repor t from an ongoing study presents the results of 48 individuals from 6 multiplex families, Smooth-pursuit eye movements were recorded by infr ared reflectometry and assessed by quantitative measurement techniques . Along with the high degree of psychiatric morbidity in these familie s, in 56.3% of the individuals ETD was assessed. Reduced mean pursuit gain was present in 39.6%. The distribution of eye-tracking dysfunctio n resembles the distribution of schizophrenia-related psychiatry morbi dity.