Oculomotor performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Neuroimaging studies have shown abnormalities of the frontal cortex and basal ganglia in persons with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Since lesions in the frontal cortex and basal ganglia areas affect performance on goal-guided saccadic eye movements, this study investigated the relation between the diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder and oculomotor performance.


METHODS
Eleven patients with the clinical diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder and 14 normal subjects were assessed with respect to their performance on both visual-guided and goal-guided oculomotor tasks. Fixation performance was also measured.


RESULTS
The group with obsessive-compulsive disorder had a very significantly greater error rate and a significantly greater rate of inaccurate saccades on the goal-guided antisaccade task, whereas they were not different from the normal group in reaction time, saccadic velocity, and accuracy on the visual-guided saccade task. The distribution of error rates for the patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder was broad, with more than one-half outside the range of the normal group. Most of the abnormal findings were among male patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The results support the hypothesis of a relationship between impaired performance on goal-guided saccadic eye movement tasks and the diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but they also suggest a gender-related subgroup within the group with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Tien
A Y
AY
Department of Mental Hygiene, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205.
Pearlson
G D
GD
Machlin
S R
SR
Bylsma
F W
FW
Hoehn-Saric
R
R
D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology