Ocular-motor delayed-response task performance among schizophrenia patients

Twenty schizophrenia patients and 20 nonpsychiatric subjects were presented with an ocular-motor delayed-response task. Schizophrenia patients generated fewer memory-guided saccades which were characterized by increased latency and decreased gain relative to the nonpsychiatric subjects. In addition, the patients generated an increased frequency of reflexive (made to the initial cue) and anticipatory (made during the delay period) errors. The results are most consistent with hypothesized pathology of prefrontal cortex among schizophrenia patients.