HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Takarae, Y Articles by Sweeney, J A Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Takarae, Y Articles by Sweeney, J A

Oculomotor abnormalities parallel cerebellar histopathology in autism

¹ University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
² University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
J A Sweeney, PhD
Center for Cognitive Medicine, Department of Psychiatry (MC 913), University of Illinois at Chicago, 912 S. Wood St, Suite 235, Chicago, IL 60612-7327, USA; jsweeney{at}psych.uic.edu

ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate cerebellar function in autism by measuring visually guided saccades.

Methods: A visually guided saccade task was performed by 46 high-functioning individuals with autism with and without delayed language acquisition, and 104 age and IQ matched healthy individuals.

Results: Individuals with autism had increased variability in saccade accuracy, and only those without delayed language development showed a mild saccadic hypometria. Neither autistic group showed a disturbance in peak saccade velocity or latency.

Conclusions: The observed saccadic abnormalities suggest a functional disturbance in the cerebellar vermis or its output through the fastigial nuclei, consistent with reported cerebellar histopathology in autism. The pattern of mild hypometria and variable saccade accuracy is consistent with chronic rather than acute effects of cerebellar vermis lesions reported in clinical and non-human primate studies, as might be expected in a neurodevelopmental disorder. The different patterns of oculomotor deficits in individuals with autism with and without delayed language development suggest that pathophysiology at the level of the cerebellum may differ depending on an individual’s history of language development.

Keywords: language development; developmental disabilities; eye movements

This article has been cited by other articles:

				From the Library Br. J. Ophthalmol., November 1, 2004; 88(11): 1482 - 1482. [Full Text] [PDF]