Eye movements reflect impaired face processing in patients with schizophrenia

Background: Impaired processing effaces in patients with schizophrenia may underlie aspects of disturbance in their social interaction. This study examined patterns of eye fixation in subjects with schizophrenia and nonpsychiatric controls, while processing a high resolution picture of a neutral face and a nonbiological complex geometric stimulus. Methods: Ten-second sequences of eye movement were recorded video-oculographically (50 samples/sec) while subjects were "free-viewing" the stimuli. Art essential element of the study was customized software that ensured stimulus presentation on a video display only after subjects were fixated upon a centre-screen cue, so that all subjects began stimulus processing from the same point. Results: Compared with the control group, subjects with schizophrenia exhibited reduced scanpath lengths and a tendency toward fewer fixations for the face stimulus. They also showed art initial relative right spatial hemineglect (for the first voluntary fixation) when viewing the Rey figure, but not when viewing the face stimulus. Overall, there were no significant differences between the schizophrenia and control groups in the lateral distribution of subsequent fixations for either stimulus. Conclusions: Disturbed spatial and temporal patterns of eye movement in some people with schizophrenia may reflect sub-optimal processing of face stimuli, that may predispose these individuals to dysfunctional interpretation of facial communication cues. Biol Psychiatry 1999;46:963-969 (C) 1999 Society of Biological Psychiatry.