title: Impaired smooth pursuit eye movement: vulnerability marker for schizotypal personality disorder in a normal volunteer population.
abstract: Impaired smooth pursuit eye movement has been proposed as a possible biologic marker for schizophrenia. Preliminary studies have suggested that this impairment may be associated with social introversion and related psychopathology in a nonpsychiatric population. To evaluate the relationship between dysfunctional smooth pursuit eye movement and schizophrenia-related psychopathology, the authors screened a new, volunteer sample of 284 male college students for eye tracking accuracy. Volunteers identified as low-accuracy trackers were significantly more likely to be diagnosed (blindly) as having a schizotypal personality disorder by DSM-III criteria than those identified as high-accuracy trackers. The authors suggest that disordered smooth pursuit eye movement may reflect a vulnerability marker for schizotypal personality disorder.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004585:Electrooculography; D005133:Eye Movements; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology