Visuomotor Tracking Performance in Schizophrenia: Relationship with Psychopathological Subtyping

Abstract

30 schizophrenic outpatients (RDC) under neuroleptic maintenance treatment completed a visuomotor tracking task with four degrees of difficulty. The mean efficiency of performance was measured in bit per second from the difference between the target signal and the tracking signal. Clinical assessment was accomplished with the BPRS, CGI, and GAS. Besides generally poorer tracking performance in schizophrenics compared with healthy volunteers the main finding was a relationship between tracking performance and psychopathological subtyping. Negative symptoms were related to a generally lowered task performance, irrespective of task difficulty. However, this effect disappeared by controlling for illness duration. On the other hand, there was a syndrome-specific interaction effect with task difficulty: Schizophrenics with positive symptoms performed poorly, especially in the most difficult task condition. Generally, there was no significant relationship between daily neuroleptic dose and tracking performance. Results are discussed with respect to a differential deficit in attention in schizophrenic subgroups.

Oculomotor abnormalities in schizophrenia

“…64 There are also only a small number of studies that have investigated links between neuropsychological test performance and eye movement dysfunction. A modest association has been reported in a large sample of schizophrenics between SP gain and negative symptorns.l8 Although some studies have recorded similar finding^,*^.^ negative symptom scores often correlate highly with factors such as disease duration, and it remains a possibility that studies reporting correlations between negative symptoms and SP abnormality are confounded.…”

Eye movement dysfunction as a biological marker of risk for schizophrenia

“…Of studies examining the relationship with the broad positive/negative symptom distinction, some studies found an association between SPEM dysfunction and negative symptoms while other studies failed to find such an association [104,105]. Gaebel and Ulrich also found an association between negative symptoms and SPEM, but this relationship was no longer present when duration of illness was controlled for [106]. An initial study by Holzman found that the individual positive symptom of thought disorder is associated with SPEM dysfunction [2,107].…”

Eye Movement Dysfunction as a Biological Marker of Risk for Schizophrenia

“…Of studies examining the relationship with the broad positive/negative symptom distinction, some studies found an association between SPEM dysfunction and negative symptoms while other studies failed to find such an association [104,105]. Gaebel and Ulrich also found an association between negative symptoms and SPEM, but this relationship was no longer present when duration of illness was controlled for [106]. An initial study by Holzman found that the individual positive symptom of thought disorder is associated with SPEM dysfunction [2,107].…”