SMOOTH-PURSUIT EYE-MOVEMENT ABNORMALITY IN SEVERE MAJOR DEPRESSION - EFFECTS OF ECT AND CLINICAL RECOVERY

Smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) dysfunction is a putative genetic m arker for schizophrenia, but it has also been described in major depre ssion. The authors longitudinally evaluated effects of clinical state on SPEM quality in patients with depression. Prior to ECT, SPEM abnorm ality characterized 42% of 24 severely depressed patients, 60% of 30 s chizophrenia patients, and 5% of 20 control subjects. SPEM was signifi cantly correlated to Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores (r = 0.49, P = 0.02) in the depressed patients. Although SPEM was transient ly disrupted by an acute ECT treatment, it improved during the treatme nt course. This improvement of SPEM quality with clinical recovery sug gests that SPEM abnormality may be a state marker in severe major depr ession, in contrast to its invariable trait nature in schizophrenia.