Impaired smooth pursuit eye movement has been proposed as a possible
biologic marker for schizophrenia. Preliminary studies have suggested that
this impairment may be associated with social introversion and related
psychopathology in a nonpsychiatric population. To evaluate the
relationship between dysfunctional smooth pursuit eye movement and
schizophrenia-related psychopathology, the authors screened a new,
volunteer sample of 284 male college students for eye tracking accuracy.
Volunteers identified as low-accuracy trackers were significantly more
likely to be diagnosed (blindly) as having a schizotypal personality
disorder by DSM-III criteria than those identified as high-accuracy
trackers. The authors suggest that disordered smooth pursuit eye movement
may reflect a vulnerability marker for schizotypal personality
disorder.Abstract Teaser