Impaired Spontaneous Attention to Gaze Cueing in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Eye Tracking Study

The aim of this study was to determine whether or not patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) differed from the control group in paying spontaneous attention to gaze cueing.

The OCD patient and control groups were tested on a shortened version of Social Distance Judgement Task using pictures of two human cartoon figures with their bodies directed toward the observer and their heads facing each other or in opposite directions. Participants were asked to compare the distances between the cartoon figures and between the blocks drawn under each figure, while their eye movements were recorded by eye-tracking equipment. Before the recording, a rectangular area, with its lower side located at the shoulder region of the cartoon figures, was determined as the area of interest for visual fixation. During the test, human cartoon figures were presented on a computer screen, and the number and duration of visual fixations on the area of interest by both patients and controls were recorded and compared with each other.

In comparison to the control group, the patients with OCD had less number (p=0.029) and duration (p=0.051) of visual fixations on the head and surrounding region of the cartoon figures. The number and duration of fixations on the region of interest did not show correlation with the severity of symptoms.

Patients with OCD are less likely to pay spontaneous attention to gaze cueing in comparison to healthy individuals. Impairment in spontaneous attention to social cues may underlie the social functioning disorders observed in these patients.