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The disengagement of visual attention in Alzheimer's disease: a longitudinal eye-tracking study

Introduction: Eye tracking provides a convenient and promising biological marker of cognitive impairment in patients with neurodegenerative disease. Here we report a longitudinal study of saccadic eye movements in a sample of patients with Alzheimer's disease and elderly control participants wh...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Crawford, Trevor J., Devereaux, Alex, Higham, Steve, Kelly, Claire
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4477171/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26157388
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2015.00118
Descripción
Sumario:Introduction: Eye tracking provides a convenient and promising biological marker of cognitive impairment in patients with neurodegenerative disease. Here we report a longitudinal study of saccadic eye movements in a sample of patients with Alzheimer's disease and elderly control participants who were assessed at the start of the study and followed up 12-months later. Methods: Eye movements were measured in the standard gap and overlap paradigms, to examine the longitudinal trends in the ability to disengage attention from a visual target. Results: Overall patients with Alzheimer's disease had slower reaction times than the control group. However, after 12-months, both groups showed faster and comparable reductions in reaction times to the gap, compared to the overlap stimulus. Interestingly, there was a general improvement for both groups with more accurately directed saccades and speeding of reaction times after 12-months. Conclusions: These findings point to the value of longer-term studies and follow-up assessment to ascertain the effects of dementia on oculomotor control.