Flickering light spot as a tracking target for the study of smooth pursuit eye movements in schizophrenics--a new...

Smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) were studied in 26 schizophrenics and 20 normal controls. A light spot on a screen of cathode ray oscilloscope was used as a tracking target. In order to induce SPEM disorder easily, the subjects were required to track a light spot which flickered in various frequencies. This new method devised by the authors has clearly demonstrated that the SPEM in schizophrenic was more profoundly disturbed by the flickering of the tracking target than that in the normal control subjects. It was supposed that poor tracking of a flickering light spot in schizophrenics may be due to the inadequate concentration of attention to visual stimuli, and/or inability to predict the movements of a tracking target.