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ADHD and first-episode schizophrenia show distinct scanpaths to emotional faces

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

PJ Marsh ,
AW Harris ,
S Clarke ,
M Kohn ,
I Lazzaro ,
K Brown ,
M Charles ,
C Latimer  and
LM Williams
PJ Marsh
Affiliation:
Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science, Macquarie University
AW Harris
Affiliation:
The Brain Dynamics Centre Westmead Hospital
S Clarke
Affiliation:
Westmead Hospital
M Kohn
Affiliation:
Westmead Children's Hospital
I Lazzaro
Affiliation:
The Brain Dynamics Centre
K Brown
Affiliation:
The Brain Dynamics Centre Joint Centres of Mental Health Excellence, Westmead Hospital
M Charles
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
C Latimer
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
LM Williams
Affiliation:
The Brain Dynamics Centre
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Abstract

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Type
Abstracts from ‘Brainwaves’— The Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research Annual Meeting 2006, 6–8 December, Sydney, Australia
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 18 , Issue 6 , December 2006 , pp. 298
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Blackwell Munksgaard

Background:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and early-onset schizophrenia are both marked by significant deficits in social and emotional functioning. In this study, we tracked visual scanpaths while participants passively viewed emotional faces to examine the processing of facial emotions in patients with ADHD and first-episode schizophrenia (FES).

Methods:

A corneal reflection technique was used to record eye fixations and saccades in 42 ADHD, 20 FES and 37 matched healthy control participants, between 12 and 18 years of age. Visual scanpaths were recorded while participants viewed happy and sad facial expressions, as well as neutral and nonface control stimuli.

Results:

FES participants, compared with both ADHD and control participants, were distinguished by ‘restricted’ scanpaths (eg reduced duration and number of fixations and reduced dispersal of fixations), as well as reduced attention to the salient features of positive and negative facial expressions. Conversely, ADHD participants exhibited more dispersed fixations compared with controls, although differences were only significant for the neutral face.

Conclusions:

Our results suggest that FES and ADHD may be distinguished by at least partially separable deficits in facial emotion processing. While the abnormal scanpaths of FES may reflect an inability to form an integrated gestalt of salient facial features, ADHD might, to some extent, be characterized by an inability to disengage from nonfeature (task irrelevant) facial areas.