Association of Saccade Duration and Saccade Acceleration/Deceleration Asymmetry during Visually Guided Saccade in Schizophrenia Patients

Objective To examine the difference between schizophrenia patients and normal controls on velocity and acceleration of saccade, by using the basic visually guided saccade (VGS) paradigm. Methods Eighteen schizophrenia outpatients and fourteen normal controls participated in the VGS task. Multiple indicators, including amplitude, duration, velocity, latency, accuracy rate, acceleration, and deceleration were analyzed. Asymmetric acceleration index (AAI) was introduced to describe the difference between peak acceleration and peak deceleration. The correlation coefficient (RAD) of AAI and duration was computed to examine the difference between schizophrenia patients and normal controls. Results No significant difference between patients and normal controls was found on amplitude, duration, latency, and accuracy rate. However, RAD values of schizophrenia patients were significantly lower than the control group. Conclusion Compared to normal controls, association of saccade duration and saccade acceleration/deceleration asymmetry during visually guided saccade was lower in schizophrenia patients.

[1]  Hao Yan,et al.  Neuroanatomical Circuitry Associated with Exploratory Eye Movement in Schizophrenia: A Voxel-Based Morphometric Study , 2011, PloS one.

[2]  B. Stieltjes,et al.  Neurological Soft Signs and Brainstem Morphology in First-Episode Schizophrenia , 2013, Neuropsychobiology.

[3]  S. Highstein,et al.  Anatomy and physiology of saccadic burst neurons in the alert squirrel monkey. I. Excitatory burst neurons , 1986, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[4]  O. Hikosaka,et al.  Role of the basal ganglia in the control of purposive saccadic eye movements. , 2000, Physiological reviews.

[5]  L. Abel,et al.  Smooth pursuit eye movements in schizophrenics—What constitutes quantitative assessment? , 1988, Biological Psychiatry.

[6]  R. McCarley,et al.  A review of MRI findings in schizophrenia , 2001, Schizophrenia Research.

[7]  Stefan Van der Stigchel,et al.  A review on eye movement studies in childhood and adolescent psychiatry , 2008, Brain and Cognition.

[8]  D. Levy,et al.  Eye-tracking dysfunctions in schizophrenic patients and their relatives. , 1974, Archives of general psychiatry.

[9]  J. V. Van Gisbergen,et al.  Skewness of saccadic velocity profiles: a unifying parameter for normal and slow saccades. , 1987, Vision research.

[10]  S. Kay,et al.  The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. , 1987, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[11]  N. Mendell,et al.  Eye tracking and schizophrenia: a selective review. , 1994, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[12]  Jia Huang,et al.  Neurological soft signs are not "soft" in brain structure and functional networks: evidence from ALE meta-analysis. , 2014, Schizophrenia bulletin.

[13]  R. Baloh,et al.  Quantitative measurement of saccade amplitude, duration, and velocity , 1975, Neurology.

[14]  R J Leigh,et al.  Using saccades as a research tool in the clinical neurosciences. , 2004, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[15]  J. Büttner-Ennever,et al.  Premotor neurons for vertical eye movements in the rostral mesencephalon of monkey and human: Histologic identification by parvalbumin immunostaining , 1998, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[16]  R. Dodge,et al.  AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE OCULAR REACTIONS OF THE INSANE FROM PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORDS. , 1908 .

[17]  S. Highstein,et al.  Anatomy and physiology of saccadic burst neurons in the alert squirrel monkey. I. Excitatory burst neurons. , 1986, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[18]  Y Shimazono,et al.  Exploratory eye movements and neuropsychological tests in schizophrenic patients. , 1992, Schizophrenia bulletin.