title: Measuring liability for schizophrenia using optimized antisaccade stimulus parameters.
abstract: The ability to identify unaffected gene carriers within families may be crucial to the success of schizophrenia genetics studies. Data collected from three family samples (N = 365) demonstrated that poor antisaccade performance is an exceptionally promising indicator of liability for schizophrenia. A particular antisaccade task version provides large separations (5-6 sigma) between proband and normal groups. Poor antisaccade performance alone correctly identified 70% of patients in California, Utah, and Micronesia schizophrenia samples. Twenty-five to 50% of these patients' nonpsychotic first-degree relatives also had poor antisaccade performance, yielding risk ratios around 20:1 for simplex and 50:1 for multiplex schizophrenia families. Poor antisaccade performance is associated with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex pathology, suggesting that dysfunction of this circuitry also may predispose individuals to developing this disease.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, USA.
authors: J E
authors: JE
authors: McDowell
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Myles-Worsley
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Coon
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Byerley
authors: B A
authors: BA
authors: Clementz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents