Abstract

Smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) performance has been linked to nonvoluntary attentional processes. Amphetamine is a psychotropic drug with documented effects on attentional performance. In order to evaluate the relationship between SPEM performance and amphetamine's attentional effects, SPEM performance was measured prior to and following amphetamine administration in five bipolar patients and eight obsessive-compulsive patients. In these 13 patients, amphetamine did not significantly alter the accuracy of SPEM in the two patient groups. However, significant negative correlations were observed in the obsessive-compulsive patients and in the combined patient groups between baseline SPEM impairment and changes in eye-tracking accuracy following amphetamine, i.e. individuals with poorer SPEM accuracy improved while better SPEM performers deteriorated in tracking accuracy during amphetamine treatment.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.