Project Summary

L. Elliot Hong, M.D. (Young Investigator 2004) of Maryland Psychiatric Research Center/University of Maryland, proposes using fMRI imaging to find brain regions activated when people perform certain eye movements—movements which become impaired in individuals with schizophrenia. One neurobiological change observed in people with schizophrenia is impaired smooth pursuit eye movement, or eye motion that occurs when following a smoothly moving target. Humans have accurate smooth pursuit eye movement by combining the immediate perception of a target’s motion (perceptual motion) with an internal predictive motion mechanism. Both perceptual and predictive motion may be affected in schizophrenia. Dr. Hong will use fMRI to identify the regions activated by both motions while participants follow a target projected on a screen. He expects to see differences in schizophrenics and non-schizophrenics, a finding that will provide better understanding of the neurobiology of the disease.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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