Elsevier

Biological Psychiatry

Volume 27, Issue 11, 1 June 1990, Pages 1197-1202
Biological Psychiatry

Article
Increased blink rate in drug-naive acute schizophrenic patients

https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(90)90417-ZGet rights and content

Abstract

Eye blinks were investigated during a standardized visuomotor task in 15 drug-naive schizophrenic inpatients (8 men and 7 women) and 15 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers. Whereas the schizophrenics demonstrated the same precision as normal controls in executing the visuomotor task, their mean blink rate was markedly increased (16.2 ± 10.8 versus 9.3 ± 6.4, p < 0.05). Following neuroleptic treatment, the blink rate decreased, and was no longer statistically distinct from controls. The changes in blink rate correlated significantly with changes in several Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) items: “anxiety” (τ = 0.75; p < 0.02), “hostility” (τ = 0.78; p < 0.02), and “unusual thought content” (τ = 0.59, p ⩽ 0.05), but not with the neuroleptic dose given between the first and second testing. These results underscore the influence of psychopathology on blink rates in schizophrenics.

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