Eye movements in recovering substance abusers: a prospective study.
Smooth-pursuit (SPEM) and saccadic (SEM) eye movements were studied in 11 cocaine-dependent and 4 alcohol-dependent patients after 1, 3, and 12 weeks of verified abstinence. Sixteen non-drug-dependent controls were studied after comparable intervals. SPEM tracking accuracy, estimated by the Ln (S/N) statistic, was higher among cocaine-dependent patients than among alcohol-dependent patients and normal controls. A microanalysis of SPEM tracking revealed that the superior accuracy of the cocaine-dependent group was due to a small increase in eye movements at the target frequency (0.4 Hz) and a small compensatory decrease in higher frequency eye movements (i.e., saccades). In contrast to the findings of the SPEM study, the findings of the SEM study revealed that alcohol-dependent patients constituted the only abnormal group. Alcohol-dependent patients exhibited slower saccade onset latencies than the other groups. There were no significant differences among the groups with respect to saccade velocity, amplitude, or duration.
Bauer
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Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington 06030-2103.
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011698:Pursuit, Smooth / Q000187:drug effects*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D012438:Saccades / Q000187:drug effects*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders
D000431:Ethanol; D003042:Cocaine