SMOOTH-PURSUIT EYE-MOVEMENTS AND SACCADIC EYE-MOVEMENTS IN PATIENTS WITH DELUSIONAL DISORDER

Objective: This study used eye movement tests to examine whether front al lobe dysfunction is present in delusional disorder. Method. Smooth pursuit and voluntary saccadic eye movements of 15 delusional patients , 40 schizophrenic patients, and 40 normal subjects were recorded and analyzed statistically. Results: The schizophrenic patients differed s ignificantly from the normal subjects in some smooth pursuit eye movem ent characteristics, whereas both the schizophrenic and the delusional patients showed more saccades than the normal subjects during the smo oth pursuit test. The delusional patients and normal subjects differed significantly in some voluntary saccadic eye movement characteristics . Conclusions: The data support the idea of a biological dysfunction i n eye tracking in delusional disorder.