Author Description

Glances, stares and eye movements are believed to reflect mental states such as anxiety, tension and sadness. When a patient has his/her eyes closed, rapid eye movements can be observed visually through the eyelids and slow eye movements are also noted at the time of sleepiness. Eye movements when eyes are open or closed provide us with important information on an individual's mental state. These eye movements have been object of a long-term study by the authors of this publication, and based on the results of those with open-eye, i.e. exploratory eye movements, they discovered a common feature of visual cognitive dysfunction in many schizophrenic patients. This feature represents a schizophrenic trait and can actually contribute to clinical practice as a diagnostic aid, as well as to cytogenetic studies of the disease. The research described in this book will give psychiatrists, ophthalmologists and physiologists an interesting new approach to the understanding of the brain.