Visual Search Efficiency in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: An Eye Movement Study

Author(s)

Goncalves de Freitas Pereira, Marta Luisa ^[1] ; de Arruda Camargo, Marina von Zuben ^[1] ; Ribeiro Bellan, Ariella Fornachari ^[1] ; Tahira, Ana Carolina ^{[1, 2]} ; dos Santos, Bernardo ^[3] ; dos Santos, Jessica ^[4] ; Machado-Lima, Ariane ^[4] ; Nunes, Fatima L. S. ^[4] ; Forlenza, Orestes Vicente ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Dept & Inst Psiquiatria HCFMUSP, Lab Neurociencias LIM 27, Rua Dr Ovidio Pires de Campos 785, Third Floor, BR-05403010 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Dept & Inst Psiquiatria HCFMUSP, LIM 23, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Escola Enfermagem, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Lab Aplicacoes Informat Saude, Escola Artes Ciencias & Humanidades, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE; v. 75, n. 1, p. 261-275, 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Background: Visual search abilities are essential to everyday life activities and are known to be affected in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, little is known about visual search efficiency in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a transitive state between normal aging and dementia. Eye movement studies and machine learning methods have been recently used to detect oculomotor impairments in individuals with dementia. Objective: The aim of the present study is to investigate the association between eye movement metrics and visual search impairment in MCI and AD. Methods: 127 participants were tested: 43 healthy controls, 51 with MCI, and 33 with AD. They completed an eyetracking visual search task where they had to find a previously seen target stimulus among distractors. Results: Both patient groups made more fixations on the screen when searching for a target, with longer duration than controls. MCI and AD fixated the distractors more often and for a longer period of time than the target. Healthy controls were quicker and made less fixations when scanning the stimuli for the first time. Machine-learning methods were able to distinguish between controls and AD subjects and to identify MCI subjects with a similar oculomotor profile to AD with a good accuracy. Conclusion: Results showed that eye movement metrics are useful for identifying visual search impairments in MCI and AD, with possible implications in the early identification of individuals with high-risk of developing AD. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/23135-9 - Early detection of predictive cognitive impairments of Alzheimer's disease through the analysis of eye movement
• Grantee: Orestes Vicente Forlenza
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 17/12339-3 - Executive function impairments and the progression to Alzheimer's Disease: using computational methods for eye movement data analysis
• Grantee: Marta Luísa Gonçalves de Freitas Pereira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 14/20913-3 - Determination of plasma phospholipids in neuropsychiatric disorders
• Grantee: Alana Caroline Costa
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 15/19632-2 - Executive functioning as an indicator of conversion to Alzheimer's Disease: contribution of the eye movement analysis
• Grantee: Marta Luísa Gonçalves de Freitas Pereira
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate