Saccadic eye movements reveal distinct dysfunctions in PINK1 mutation carriers

Introduction: Saccadic eye movement abnormalities often occur in patients with parkinsonian syndromes. Recessively inherited mutations in the recently identified PINK1 gene cause familial parkinsonism; PINK1 mutation carriers may represent individuals at risk who can be identified prior to the development of symptoms by molecular genetic testing. We searched for dysfunctions of saccadic eye movements in clinically unaffected and affected PINK1 mutation carriers and compared the data with those found in healthy controls and in patients with sporadic Parkinson's disease. Methods: We included 15 PINK1 mutation carr…