Smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements and neurological soft signs in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) demonstrate an increased number of neurological soft signs as well as neuroanatomic abnormalities detected with modern imaging techniques. Quantitative analysis of eye movements has proved fruitful in investigations of other neuropsychiatric disorders with similar findings. Therefore, we studied the smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements of 8 OCD patients and 12 normal controls using infrared oculography and computerized pattern recognition software. We also measured neurologic soft signs using a standardized rating instrument. Despite having an increased number of neurological soft signs, OCD patients' performance on a variety of measures of eye movement was not significantly impaired. Neither the severity of obsessions or compulsions nor the number of neurologic soft signs correlated with any of the parameters of eye movement function. We conclude that OCD patients do not have prominent oculomotor dysfunction and that eye movement dysfunction and neurologic soft signs are not inextricably linked.