Childhood-onset schizophrenia: smooth pursuit eye-tracking dysfunction in family members

Sporn, Alexandra; Greenstein, Deanna; Gogtay, Nitin; Sailer, Franziska; Hommer, Daniel W.; Rawlings, Robert; Nicolson, Rob; Egan, Michael F.; Lenane, Marge; Gochman, Peter; Weinberger, Daniel R.; Rapoport, Judith L.

doi:10.1016/j.schres.2004.07.020

« Previous Next »Schizophrenia Research
Volume 73, Issue 2 , Pages 243-252, 1 March 2005

Childhood-onset schizophrenia: smooth pursuit eye-tracking dysfunction in family members

Alexandra Sporn
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 301 402 4655.
Deanna Greenstein
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Nitin Gogtay
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Franziska Sailer
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Daniel W. Hommer
- Laboratory of Clinical Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Robert Rawlings
- Laboratory of Clinical Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Rob Nicolson
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Michael F. Egan
- Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Instituten of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Marge Lenane
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Peter Gochman
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Daniel R. Weinberger
- Clinical Brain Disorders Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Instituten of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
Judith L. Rapoport
- Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, Bldg 10, Rm 3N202, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

Received 3 March 2004; received in revised form 9 July 2004; accepted 12 July 2004.

Abstract

Background

Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS), a severe form of the disorder, is of interest for etiologic studies. Smooth pursuit eye-tracking dysfunction (ETD) is a biological marker for schizophrenia.

Aims

To compare familial eye-tracking abnormalities for COS and adult-onset schizophrenia (AOS).

Method

Eye-tracking performance for 70 COS parents, 64 AOS parents and 20 COS siblings was compared to their respective age-matched control groups.

Results

COS and AOS parents had higher rate of dichotomously rated eye-tracking dysfunction than their respective controls (16% vs. 1% and 22% vs. 4%, respectively). COS parents and siblings also differed from controls on several continuous measures. However, scores for COS, AOS and control groups overlapped extensively.

Conclusions

Genetic factors underlying eye-tracking dysfunction appear more salient for COS. However, eye-tracking measures have to be used with caution for endophenotypic definition due to low predictive power.