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Saccadic Eye Movements: Giving us a Glimpse into understanding Cognitive Impairment
Author(s) -
Manuel Morganne,
Zachary Hannah,
Olinde Abigail,
Lovera Jesus,
Devier Deidre
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.2019.33.1_supplement.447.7
Subject(s) - saccadic masking , montreal cognitive assessment , cognitive impairment , medicine , audiology , cognition , test (biology) , psychology , eye movement , multiple sclerosis , physical medicine and rehabilitation , psychiatry , ophthalmology , paleontology , biology
Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently causes cognitive impairment (CI), with learning, attention and memory being the most frequently impaired. The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) measures visual scanning and information processing speed and accounts for the highest portion of the variance when classifying people with MS (PwMS) and healthy controls (HC). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a widely used screening assessment for detecting cognitive impairment. PwMS have been shown to have abnormally slow saccadic eye movements. The King‐Devick (K‐D) Test, a test of attention and rapid eye movements, is used in the field to detect concussions among athletes. We want to determine the feasibility of administering the K‐D test in a routine clinical visit of PwMS. Hypothesis We believe the K‐D test can be used to help detect CI in PwMS. Methods We recruited PwMS and HC from the LSU MS Clinic and the community. Participants completed the K‐D Test, SDMT, and the MoCA. All HC scoring ≤25 on the MoCA were excluded. PwMS scoring ≤25 on the MoCA were categorized as CI. We determined the correlations between each of the tests using a Pearson correlation. Results We recruited 38 PwMS (84% females, mean age 48±13 years; years of education 15±2.8; 47% CI) and 18 HC (61% females, age 56±12 years; education 15±2.8). The HC scored significantly better than the PwMS on the SDMT (60±11.3 and 52.3±9.1, p=0.01) and MoCA (28±1.2 and 26±2.4, p<0.01). In the PwMS CI group, the K‐D correlated with SDMT (r= −0.43, p=0.06) and MoCA (r= −0.59, p=0.006); in the PwMS not impaired group, the K‐D correlated with SDMT (r= −0.17, p=.48); and MoCA (r= −0.16, p=.51). In HC, the K‐D correlated with SDMT (r= −0.59, p=0.01) and MoCA (r= −0.21, p=.41). Conclusion The K‐D test may detect CI in PwMS since there appears to be a link between saccadic eye movements and cognitive impairment. This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .