Eye movement dysfunction in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Eye movement dysfunction in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Schizophrenia BIOL PSYCHIATRY 1990;27:41A-179A 115A volunteers (n - 33). Schizophrenic patients in comparison to volunteers had significant elevati...

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Schizophrenia

BIOL PSYCHIATRY 1990;27:41A-179A

115A

volunteers (n - 33). Schizophrenic patients in comparison to volunteers had significant elevations in resting (p < 0.0001), standing (p < 0.0001), and change (p = 0.004) plasma norepinephrine levels. In addition, resting and standing norepinephrine levels were significantly related to positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms. Also, there was a significant positive correlation between resting plasma norepinephrine levels and CSF norepinephrine levels (r -- 0.59, p - 0.03). Moreover, there was a significant negative conelation between CSF homovanillic acid and resting (r - 0.64, p = 0.02), standing (r - -0.70, p -- 0.009), and change (r - -0.50, p = 0.05) plasma norepinephrine levels. The significance of these data for the pathophysiology of schizophrenia is discussed.

165 EYE MOVEMENT DYSFUNCTION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

SPECTRUM DISORDERS David P. Bernstein, M.A., Richard Keefe, M.A., Emil F. Coccaro, M.D., Jeremy M. Silverman, Ph.D., Philip Harvey, Ph.D., Theresa Mahon, B.A., Ann E. Peterson, M.A., Richard C. Mohs, Ph.D., Larry J. Siever, M.D. Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10468. To investigate the relation between eye movement dysfunction (EMD) and schizotypal personality disorder, 26 schizotypal patients were compared to 17 patients with nonschizophrenia-related personality disorders, 44 schizophrenic patients, and 29 normal controls. Patients were diagnosed with SADS and SIDP and kept medication free for at least 2 weeks before study. Eyetracking was measured electroculographically, with tracings rated by two independent, blind raters (r - 0.93). Both schizophrenic and schizotypal patient groups evidenced significantly worse eyetracking than the normals by Scheffe contrasts (p < 0.05), whereas the other personality disorder patients did not significantly differ from the controls. Only one of the schizntypal e~te~R, social isolation, significantly predicted EMD (stepwise regression, F - 4,40, p < 0.05). Preliminary results of a second study using infrared assessment suggest that EMD in both schizotypal patients and "odd cluster" relatives of schizophrenics was intermediate between schizophrenics and control groups (other personality disorder patients, screened relatives of schizophrenic patients, and normals). These results support the existence of a "schizophrenia spectrum" characterized by attentional/psychophysiological impairment, and social isolation.

166 CARDIAC RESPONSIVITY AND INFORMATION PROCESSING IN OUTPATIENT SCHIZOPHRENICS AND THEIR SIBLINGS Stuart R. Steinhauser, Ph.D., Joseph Zubin, Ph.D., Ruth Condray, Ph.D., Jeffrey L. Peters, M.D., J. Richard Jennings, Ph.D., Daniel P. van Kammen, M.D., Ph.D. Biometric Research, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Deviant patterns of cardiac responding have been described among inpatiem schizophrenics. Cardiac activity in 18 male outpatients, 22 brothers of probands (sibs), and 19 controls (mean age 36. l years) was recorded, first, as subjects counted an infrequent tone. Next, a choice reaction task required a diffe~nt fi~ger press to rare or frequent tones. Heart rates were marginally higher in patients. During counting, controls and sibs showed a typical pattern of anticipatory deceleration before unpredictable, but not predictable events. In contrast, patients decelerated before all events, although with decreased magnitude. Deceleration was atypical during choice reaction among sibs with schizotypal personality disorder or no history of disorder. Poststimulus acceleration did not differ significantly among groups, but during counting, patients and their unaffected sibs responded only to the rare tone. Deviant patterns of attentional allocation appear in affected families: hypervigilance in the patients and inappropriate preparation among a proportion of their siblings.