J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2010 Nov;49(6):578-585.

Characteristics of Eye Gaze Distribution of Patients with Schizophrenia during the Emotion-Provoking Conversation with Several Virtual Persons

• Song M
• Ku J
• Han K
• Kim SI
• Choi SH
• Kim JJ

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Impairment of social cognition affects the social functioning of patients with schizophrenia. For example, patients with schizophrenia have been shown to display abnormal eye contact during a one-on-one conversation. This study was designed to investigate the behavioral characteristics of patients with schizophrenia while talking with two people.
METHODS
Twenty six patients with schizophrenia and 26 normal controls performed virtual reality conversation tasks, in which they talked with main and assistant avatars under positive or negative emotional conditions. While listening and speaking, the durations of eye gaze with the main and minor avatars were measured from the head orientations of the participants using a positional tracker.
RESULTS
Compared with normal controls, the patient group showed a shorter duration of gaze towards the main avatar and a longer duration of gaze towards the assistant avatar. This pattern was more apparent in the negative situation.
CONCLUSION
The results suggest a defect in social cognition, in which patients with schizophrenia fail to distribute their gaze appropriately during a conversation with more than one other person.

Keyword

Schizophrenia; Virtual reality; Eye gaze distribution; Social cognition

MeSH Terms

Cognition
Eye
Head
Humans
Orientation
Schizophrenia