Smooth pursuit eye movements, clinical symptoms, CSF metabolites, and skin conductance habituation in schizophrenic patients.
Smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM) for two stimulus velocities (sinusoidal and triangular) were studied by visual inspection in 12 unmedicated RDC-diagnosed schizophrenic patients and in 13 matched controls. SPEM was worse in the patient group and their performance deteriorated with repeated presentations of the task. Patients with previous antipsychotic medication, previous hospitalization, higher age, late onset of manifest psychotic symptoms, and few positive psychotic symptoms had worse SPEM according to the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale. Subjects with poor SPEM showed slower habituation of skin conductance responses. There were no correlations between SPEM ratings and levels of CSF monoamine metabolites HVA, 5-HIAA, and MHPG.