Eye movements of patients with schizophrenia in a natural environment S Dowiasch1, B Backasch2, W Einhauser1, D Leube3, T Kircher3, F Bremmer1 |
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1Neurophysics, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany |
| Schizophrenia is known to affect eye movements in laboratory settings. Many studies have documented e.g. a reduced gain during smooth tracking, or variations in fixation patterns between patients and controls. The question remains if at least part of the obtained results might be related to the experimental environment. Accordingly, a natural setting would be preferable for the oculomotor-testing of patients and controls. Here, we used a mobile light weight eye tracker (EyeSeeCam) to study eye movements of patients and healthy controls while freely walking in an indoor environment. Overall 20 schizophrenia patients and 20 healthy age-matched volunteers participated in the study, each performing 4 different oculomotor tasks. Patients fixated significantly more often and for a shorter time as compared to controls while looking at predefined targets. The opposite was true when participants were free to look wherever they wanted. During visual tracking, patients showed a significantly greater root-mean-square error (representing the mean deviation from optimal) of retinal target velocity. Surprisingly and different from previous results obtained in laboratory settings no such difference was found for velocity gain. Taken together, we have identified highly fundamental and quickly accessible oculomotor parameters, which might support the diagnosis of schizophrenia in the near future. |
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