EXPLORATORY EYE-MOVEMENT DYSFUNCTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA - POSSIBILITY AS A DISCRIMINATOR FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA

In our previous studies patients with schizophrenia and their parents had less frequent eye fixations and a more limited area of inspection than normal controls while freely viewing stationary S-shaped figures. The present study attempted to discriminate schizophrenics from non-s chizophrenics using exploratory eye movements. Two groups (A and B) we re formed, each comprising 30 schizophrenic and 70 non-schizophrenic s ubjects (10 each of patients with depression, methamphetamine psychosi s, alcohol psychosis, anxiety disorder, temporal lobe epilepsy, fronta l lobe lesions and healthy normal controls). Discriminant analysis was performed on group A to obtain a discriminant. The validity of applyi ng this discriminant to group B was investigated. By focussing on expl oratory eye movements, schizophrenics could be discriminated from non- schizophrenics with a sensitivity of 76.7% and a specificity of 81.4%. These results show that exploratory eye movements are a useful discri minator for schizophrenia. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights r eserved.