[Saccadic eye movements and endogenous psychoses]

Saccadic eye movements were examined in different psychiatric patient groups. It was found that patients with schizophrenic and schizoaffective psychoses showed significantly increased incidence of dysmetric saccades (dysmetria) as compared to manic-depressive and alcoholic patients as well as healthy controls. However, increased non-fixations (deviations of the gaze from the target point) occurred in all psychotic inpatients but not in alcoholics and schizophrenic outpatients. Significantly increased saccadic reaction times could be found in chronic schizophrenic inpatients only. Furthermore it could be shown in the latter group that the increased dysmetria remains intraindividually relatively constant, in contrast to the other parameters. The results are interpreted as the expression of an impairment of attention of psychotic inpatients, while the dysmetria could represent the equivalent of a disturbed attention typical for psychoses with schizophrenic features.