Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements in Schizophrenia: Influences of Neuroleptic Treatment and the Question of Specificity

Abstract

The authors investigated smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEMs) in 66 schizophrenic and 40 major affective patients and 39 healthy controls. The results showed significant differences of both patient groups as compared to the controls. Schizophrenics with neuroleptic treatment in the preceding 2 years were significantly more disturbed than the controls, the affective patients and the untreated schizophrenics. Acute neuroleptic medication and neuroleptic treatment of a duration of 4–6 weeks appear not to significantly influence the quality of SPEMs.

Smooth pursuit and saccadic abnormalities in first-episode schizophrenia

“…Secondly, reduced gain has been observed in the early stages of Parkinson's disease (Waterston et al 1996), in which there is a dopamine deficiency in both the basal ganglia and cortex, and it is well known that neuroleptic medication can cause parkinsonian symptoms in schizophrenics by blockade of dopamine receptors. Thirdly, in chronic patients, smooth pursuit is worse in those currently taking antipsychotic medication compared to those who have been off medication for at least 6 months Kufferle et al 1990), although studies with shorter wash-out periods have failed to demonstrate this (Siever et al 1986 ;Spohn et al 1988).…”

Implications of Comorbidity for Genetic Studies of Bipolar Disorder: P300 and Eye Tracking as Biological Markers for Illness

“…Shagass et al (1974) showed impairment of eye tracking in subjects with affective psychoses and found no significant drug effect. These findings have since received substantial support from a number of studies showing an increased prevalence of eye movement disorder in subjects with bipolar affective disorder (Salzman et al, 1978;Lipton et al, 1980;Iacono et al, 1982;Kufferle et al, 1990;Abel et al, 1991;Amador et al, 1991;Friedman et al, 1992). Levy et al (1985) proposed that lithium treatment may be responsible for some of the eye movement disorder found in bipolar illness, but other studies have found abnormal tracking in drug-free patients (e.g.…”

“…Levy et al (1985) proposed that lithium treatment may be responsible for some of the eye movement disorder found in bipolar illness, but other studies have found abnormal tracking in drug-free patients (e.g. Kufferle et al, 1990). The eye movement abnormalities found in manic-depressive illness differ from those found in schizophrenia , and there is some evidence from family studies to suggest that although eye movement disorder is common in unaffected relatives of schizophrenic probands, it is much less commonly observed in relatives of pro bands with affective disorders (Holzman et al, 1984).…”

Pharmacological treatment effects on eye movement control

“…A study by Hutton et al (1998) reported that smooth pursuit velocity gain in untreated but not in treated first episode schizophrenia patients was lower than in controls, implying that antipsychotic medication may normalize disturbed smooth pursuit performance in first-episode patients (Hutton et al, 1998). However, other studies have reported that patients treated with mostly first-generation antipsychotics performed worse than untreated patients giving rise to the hypothesis that antipsychotic medication may impair smooth pursuit (Bartfai, Levander, Nyback, Berggren, & Schalling, 1985; Bartfai, Levander, & Sedvall, 1983; Kufferle et al, 1990). Another study with nine schizophrenia patients showed that although qualitative smooth pursuit ratings remained unaltered during a 4 weeks follow-up period under first generation antipsychotic medication, the nature of catch-up saccade responses to pursuit gain disturbances changed significantly, with a 57% increase in small saccades and a 77% reduction in larger catch up saccades (Rea, Sweeney, Solomon, Walsh, & Frances, 1989).…”