The anomaly involves a function called eye tracking, and a new study reported on February 15 in the Archives of General Psychiatry takes a closer look at the phenomenon in first degree relatives of people with schizophrenia.
Eye tracking is the ability to follow a moving target with the eyes.
Eight percent of the general population is unable to do this in a smooth motion, compared to somewhere between 50 and 85 percent of schizophrenic patients and about 45 percent of their parents and siblings. This gives eye tracking a clear genetic implication in the study of schizophrenia. This recent study looked at 83 first-degree relatives of 38 patients with schizophrenia, plus 45 control subjects. The researchers began the study with the idea that in addition to eye tracking, relatives of people with schizophrenia are more likely to have problems with the CPT test, as well as demonstrate more schizotypal personality symptoms. Eye tracking proved to be the most powerful way to differentiate the relatives from the control subjects.