AS19-03 - Eye movement correlates of impaired facial emotion recognition

Introduction Visual perception is a very important source of information about the human social environment. Gaze behavior reflects the perceptive processes during guided collection of data relevant for social cognition. Objectives Gaze behavior in subjects clinically at high risk of psychosis (CHR) and in schizophrenia patients (SZ). Aims Investigating the relationship between gaze behavior and social functioning. Methods CHR, SZ and healthy control (HC) subjects were asked to assess the emotional qualities (positive, negative, neutral) of faces. Visual scan paths were recorded with an SMI iView X™ Hi-Speed System (500 Hz). Functioning was assessed by two scales introduced by Cornblatt et al. (2007). Results Scan path parameters differed significantly between HC and SZ as well as CHR. Functioning was lower in both patient groups and correlated with gaze behavior. Conclusions Gaze behavior is already aberrant in risk states of psychosis and seems to have a significant impact on social functioning.