Abnormalities in visually guided saccades suggest corticofugal dysregulation in never-treated schizophrenia

These findings provide evidence for impairments in neocortical attentional systems that cause reduced corticofugal regulation of brainstem systems in schizophrenia. This dysfunction appears to be minimized by the atypical antipsychotic risperidone but at the cost of a subtle reduction in saccade accuracy, possibly mediated via adverse effects on cerebellar vermis function.