Visual scanning of facial expressions in schizophrenia.
The authors previously observed that schizophrenic patients generated fewer fixations of < or = 50.1 ms in response to faces than did a clinical control group. This study examined whether deficits in short-duration eye movements were related to patients' problems in gestalt perception of faces. Faces were presented in upright and inverted orientations to examine the effects of distorting facial gestalts on eye movements. Normal subjects generated more saccades of < or = 50.1 ms to upright than to inverted faces. Patients' saccades of < or = 50.1 ms did not differ between orientations. Patterns of fixations and of saccades > 50.1 ms did not differ between groups. The results may indicate deficits in these patients in search strategies that underlie perception of facial gestalts.
Schwartz
B L
BL
Psychiatry Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, DC 20422, USA.
Rosse
R B
RB
Johri
S
S
Deutsch
S I
SI
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face; D005149:Facial Expression; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception