Biomaterial Database

Smooth pursuit eye movements in schizophrenics--what constitutes quantitative assessment? 1988

L A Abel, and A S Ziegler

Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Akron, OH 44325.

Although a voluminous literature exists on the eye movements of schizophrenic and affective disorder patients, many of the assessments made of smooth pursuit have been qualitative in nature. Most of them have not differentiated between abnormal functioning of the smooth pursuit system and intrusion of inappropriate saccades during a smooth tracking task. Specific identification of the pursuit or saccadic defect is necessary if the origins of the abnormalities are to be understood and related to psychopathology. Analytical techniques, such as the ln(S/N) ratio, although numerical in nature, are still unable to discriminate among pursuit and saccadic defects, as shown by our analysis of simulated tracking. Thus, to understand the effects of psychiatric disorders on the ocular motor system, specific defects must be identified and quantified.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011698	Pursuit, Smooth	Eye movements that are slow, continuous, and conjugate and occur when a fixed object is moved slowly.	Pursuits, Smooth,Smooth Pursuit,Smooth Pursuits
D003198	Computer Simulation	Computer-based representation of physical systems and phenomena such as chemical processes.	Computational Modeling,Computational Modelling,Computer Models,In silico Modeling,In silico Models,In silico Simulation,Models, Computer,Computerized Models,Computer Model,Computer Simulations,Computerized Model,In silico Model,Model, Computer,Model, Computerized,Model, In silico,Modeling, Computational,Modeling, In silico,Modelling, Computational,Simulation, Computer,Simulation, In silico,Simulations, Computer
D005133	Eye Movements	Voluntary or reflex-controlled movements of the eye.	Eye Movement,Movement, Eye,Movements, Eye
D005583	Fourier Analysis	Analysis based on the mathematical function first formulated by Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier in 1807. The function, known as the Fourier transform, describes the sinusoidal pattern of any fluctuating pattern in the physical world in terms of its amplitude and its phase. It has broad applications in biomedicine, e.g., analysis of the x-ray crystallography data pivotal in identifying the double helical nature of DNA and in analysis of other molecules, including viruses, and the modified back-projection algorithm universally used in computerized tomography imaging, etc. (From Segen, The Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)	Fourier Series,Fourier Transform,Analysis, Cyclic,Analysis, Fourier,Cyclic Analysis,Analyses, Cyclic,Cyclic Analyses,Series, Fourier,Transform, Fourier
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001288	Attention	Focusing on certain aspects of current experience to the exclusion of others. It is the act of heeding or taking notice or concentrating.	Focus of Attention,Selective Attention,Social Attention,Attention Focus,Attention, Selective,Attention, Social,Selective Attentions
D012438	Saccades	An abrupt voluntary shift in ocular fixation from one point to another, as occurs in reading.	Pursuit, Saccadic,Saccadic Eye Movements,Eye Movement, Saccadic,Eye Movements, Saccadic,Movement, Saccadic Eye,Movements, Saccadic Eye,Pursuits, Saccadic,Saccade,Saccadic Eye Movement,Saccadic Pursuit,Saccadic Pursuits
D012565	Schizophrenic Psychology	Study of mental processes and behavior of schizophrenics.	Psychology, Schizophrenic