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Predictive eye and hand movements are differentially affected by schizophrenia

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Abstract

Background

Schizophrenic patients are known to have problems suppressing reflexive eye movements. This is considered to indicate a dysfunction in prefrontal cortex. As the eye and hand motor systems are tightly coupled, we investigated whether predictive hand movements and eye-hand coordination are unimpaired in schizophrenic patients.

Method

Saccades and hand movements of 19 patients during an acute schizophrenic episode and 19 controls were measured in a task in which the predictability of target timing was varied.

Results

Schizophrenic patients generated more anticipatory and less visually triggered saccades than controls with both non-predictable and predictable target timing. Anticipatory saccades in the wrong direction were clearly directed towards previous target positions, indicating that they are indicators of erroneous prediction rather than of fixation instability. In contrast to saccades, the number of anticipatory and visually triggered hand movements was the same in patients as in controls. As a consequence, patients took longer to initiate a hand movement after a saccade than controls.

Conclusion

Schizophrenic patients show increased predictive saccadic activity, but no qualitative changes in predictive saccades. Since prediction itself was not disturbed, the patients’ deficit rather lies in the suppression or gating of anticipatory saccades than in their generation. This may be explained by a selective dysfunction of the basal ganglia oculomotor loop. As predictive hand movements were unimpaired, the problems in eye-hand coordination as expressed by a longer initiation time of hand movements relative to saccades are a direct consequence of impaired predictive saccadic behaviour.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) via SFB 462 “Sensomotorik”, DFG-Grant Str 436/7-1, and a DFG-fellowship to U.S. We thank Roland S. Johansson for helpful suggestions on the analysis of the data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Klinikum Großhadern, Dept. of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Marchioninistr. 23, 81377, Munich, Germany

    Uta Sailer, Thomas Eggert & Andreas Straube

  2. Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010, Vienna, Austria

    Uta Sailer

  3. Psychiatric Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Nussbaumstr. 7, 80336, Munich, Germany

    Martin Strassnig & Michael Riedel

  4. Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Martin Strassnig

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  1. Uta Sailer
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Correspondence to Uta Sailer.

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Sailer, U., Eggert, T., Strassnig, M. et al. Predictive eye and hand movements are differentially affected by schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosc 257, 413–422 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-007-0749-8

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