Abstract

Conjugate lateral eye movements (CLEM) measurements elicited in response to different stimuli (e.g. questions of cognitive or emotional content) have been used as an index of activation of contralateral hemispheres. In our study, hemispheric activation measured by electronystagmographic method of CLEM determination in response to cognitive emotional and spatial questions was assessed in ten paranoid schizophrenics and ten unipolar depressed female patients both during acute episode and on improvement after pharmacological treatment. The results were compared with the control group of ten healthy women. During acute episode of the illness, schizophrenic patients, compared with controls, exhibited excessive activation of left hemisphere in response to emotional and spatial stimuli. On improvement, there was a significant decrease of patients left hemisphere activation and the increase of right hemisphere activation. In depressed patients during acute episode, the advantage of right hemisphere activation over the left hemisphere in response to cognitive stimuli was observed. These changes persisted into remission period. The results point to specific alterations of hemispheric activation in schizophrenia and depression during acute episode and also to different changes of such activation after clinical improvement and/or pharmacological treatment.
key words: hemispheric activation • conjugate lateral eye movements • schizophrenia • depression • acute episode • remission • pharmacological treatment

Keywords: pharmacological treatment, remission, acute episode, Depression, Schizophrenia