The way your eyes move could reveal a lot more than we think. A team of researchers has discovered that certain eye movement abnormalities could be a biomarker for cognitive and positive symptoms of schizophrenia. Thanks to artificial intelligence they achieved 85% accuracy in the diagnosis with only 60 seconds of eye movement recordings.
A systematic review
Schizophrenia is a complex psychotic disorder. It is characterized by positive (hallucinations, delusions), negative (absence of normal functioning) symptoms, and cognitive deficits. These symptoms are related to structural and functional alterations in the cortico-subcortical-cerebellar circuit. Therefore, the team analyzed eye movement, which is closely linked to these alterations and to cognitive processes.
The team of researchers led by Dr. Wang Wei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences presented in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin (I link them to you here) the results of a study carried out on 300 patients (140 with schizophrenia at the first manifestation and 160 healthy subjects).
Amazing results
There are four components most observed in the study.
Fine: Patients with schizophrenia had more vertical eye movements and a large vertical deviation of horizontal movements.
Second, the patients' eye movements had longer durations, faster peak velocities, and larger amplitudes than healthy subjects.
ThirdBy carefully analyzing the cognitive abilities of patients with schizophrenia, researchers found that longer duration of horizontal eye movements was associated with lower cognitive performance. In particular, attention or alertness deficits and processing speed deficits.
Wednesday, greater vertical deviation of horizontal movements was associated with greater symptom severity.
A promising future for the diagnosis of schizophrenia
The results of this study are extremely interesting. They suggest that eye movements could be an easily obtainable biomarker for cognitive and positive symptoms, and for the complementary diagnosis of schizophrenia. This finding could have significant implications for early diagnosis and identification of those at risk. In summary, it could improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
Of course, it is important to underline that further research is needed to confirm and deepen these findings. Furthermore, it also takes some time to determine whether these biomarkers can be used in combination with other diagnostic measures. Overall though, the journey is very promising.
It's worth stepping up your efforts.
