Measuring liability for schizophrenia using optimized antisaccade stimulus parameters.
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.
McDowell
J E
JE
Department of Psychology, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, USA.
Myles-Worsley
M
M
Coon
H
H
Byerley
W
W
Clementz
B A
BA
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
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents