Schizophrenia, eye movements, and biocultural heterogeneity |
| |
Authors: | J S Allen K Matsunaga T Nakamura F Kitamura T Furukawa S S Hacisalihzade V M Sarich L Stark |
| |
Affiliation: | Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley 94720. |
| |
Abstract: | ![]() Smooth-pursuit eye-tracking dysfunction is a putative genetic trait marker for schizophrenia. In this study 88 Japanese schizophrenics from Kyushu and Okinawa were examined for the marker using precise high-resolution instrumentation: 76% of the schizophrenics from Kyushu and 89% of those from Okinawa had pursuit dysfunction. The presence of the culture-neutral smooth-pursuit marker for schizophrenia in Japan demonstrates that the etic concept "schizophrenia" is cross-culturally valid. Furthermore, the ubiquity of the marker in biologically and culturally diverse populations may indicate a limit on the extent of meaningful heterogeneity likely to be discovered within the condition. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|