Pursuit gain and saccadic intrusions in first-degree relatives of probands with schizophrenia.

Abstract

Oculomotor functioning of 26 probands with schizophrenia, 12 spectrum and 46 nonspectrum first-degree relatives, and 38 nonpsychiatric control subjects was evaluated. Spectrum relatives had more anticipatory saccades (ASs) and lower pursuit gain than nonspectrum relatives, who had more ASs and lower pursuit gain than control subjects. Probands also had lower pursuit gain than nonspectrum relatives and control subjects but did not differ from other groups on AS frequency. Control subjects had more globally accurate pursuit tracking (root mean square [RMS] error deviation) than both relative groups, whereas probands had the poorest RMS scores. Square wave jerk frequency did not differentiate the groups. Attention enhancement affected the frequency of ASs but did not affect either the other intrusive saccadic event or RMS scores. These results offer evidence that eye-movement dysfunction may serve as a biological marker for schizophrenia.

Smooth Pursuit Eye Movement Deficits in Patients With Whiplash and Neck Pain are Modulated by Target Predictability

“…Furthermore, we hypothesized an interaction between target predictability and neck torsion, with the SPNT with unpredictably moving targets being more affected. 20 healthy controls and 55 patients with neck pain participated in this experiment. Healthy controls were recruited among the hospital and university staff: they formed a heterogeneous group of 10 males and 10 females, being on average 28.4 years old (range 20-51 yr).…”

Defining the schizophrenia phenotype

“…Many of the nonpsychotic family members of schizophrenic patients also show poor pursuit as measured globally [29,[65][66][67], by pursuit gain [68], or by other measures [63,69]. Most studies note an association between SSP symptoms and abnormalities in aspects of smooth-pursuit eye movements [29,68,70]; one study did not find such an association [67]. These findings raised a concern that the presence of SSP symptoms may be indirectly affecting the performance in the smooth pursuit task.…”

“…Extensive work carried out by Holzman et al [64] and others in schizophrenic patients has shown that the measure is stable, and the findings in schizophrenia cannot be explained by disease-related factors or overt psychotic symptoms. Many of the nonpsychotic family members of schizophrenic patients also show poor pursuit as measured globally [29,[65][66][67], by pursuit gain [68], or by other measures [63,69]. Most studies note an association between SSP symptoms and abnormalities in aspects of smooth-pursuit eye movements [29,68,70]; one study did not find such an association [67].…”

Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements to Extraretinal Motion Signals

“…6,7 We hypothesized that a similar deficit in predictive pursuit (ie, in response to only extraretinal motion signals) would occur in their relatives. Since most studies, [8][9][10] but not all, 11 noted an association between schizophrenia spectrum personality (SSP) symptoms and abnormalities in smooth pursuit eye movements, we further hypothesized that the deficit would occur mostly in relatives with SSP symptoms. Be-cause subjects with SSP are known to have subtle cognitive impairments 12 that can affect smooth pursuit performance, independent of a family history of schizophrenia, the present study recruited individuals with SSP without a known family history of psychosis as a comparison group.…”