Saccadic inhibition among schizotypal personality disorder subjects

Abstract

Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is theoretically part of the schizophrenia spectrum both clinically and neurobiologically. A liability for developing schizophrenia may be associated with dysfunction of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and its cortical and/or subcortical circuitry. If so, abnormalities on tasks associated with DLPFC functioning among SPD subjects would support the thesis that SPD is neurobiologically related to schizophrenia. Antisaccade and ocular motor delayed response performance, both of which are ostensibly supported by DLPFC circuitry, were assessed among 29 SPD, 17 schizophrenia, and 25 normal subjects. Generally, the SPD subjects' performance was more similar to normal than to schizophrenia groups. There was evidence, however, for inhibition abnormalities in a subgroup of SPD subjects. Antisaccade performance identified more SPD subjects as "abnormal" than delayed response measures.

The antisaccade task as a research tool in psychopathology: A critical review

“…Interestingly, however, latency (Brenner et al, 2001;Ettinger et al, 2005b;Gooding, 1999;O'Driscoll et al, 1998) and spatial accuracy (Brenner et al, 2001;Ettinger et al, 2005b) appear unaffected amongst schizotypal individuals, suggesting that these two high-risk groups display only partially overlapping genetic vulnerabilities, at least with regards to antisaccade function.…”

The tell-tale tasks: A review of saccadic research in psychiatric patient populations

“…Wonodi et al, 2006) have recruited schizotypal individuals using advertisements and following up with clinical interviews in order to yield a group of individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for schizotypal personality disorder. Others (Brenner et al, 2001) have studied patients diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder or individuals presenting with subsyndromal or prodromal symptoms of psychosis (e.g. Nieman et al 2007).…”

“…Brenner et al (2001) reported that patients diagnosed with DSM-IV schizotypal personality disorder displayed normal saccadic performance on both antisaccade and memory-guided tasks, though there was some evidence of inhibitory deviance in a subgroup of SPD subjects. It is possible that the overall negative findings in the Brenner et al (2001) investigation are attributable to the less demanding nature of the antisaccade task that was used.…”

“…It is possible that the overall negative findings in the Brenner et al (2001) investigation are attributable to the less demanding nature of the antisaccade task that was used. This interpretation is consistent with the fact that in other prior studies of schizotypy that employed the overlap version of the antisaccade task (Holahan & O’Driscoll, 2005; Klein et al, 2000; Larrison et al, 2000) the schizotypal group did not differ from the healthy controls.…”

Altered depth perception is associated with presence of schizotypal personality traits

“…Reports of deficits in visual perceptual and oculomotor functions in the schizophrenia spectrum have been mixed (Braff, 1981;Brenner, McDowell, Cadenhead, & Clementz, 2001;Cadenhead, Light, Geyer, McDowell, & Braff, 2002;Larrison, Ferrante, Briand, & Sereno, 2000;Siever, Coursey, Alterman, Buchsbaum, & Murphy, 1984;Siever, Friedman, et al, 1993;Siever, Kalus, & Keefe, 1993;Siever et al, 1990). Silverstein, Raulin, Pristach, and Pomerantz (1992) employed a psychosis-vulnerability scale and reported normal performance on tests of perceptual organisation.…”