Eye Tracking to Characterize Cognitive Changes Across the Lifespan and in Neuropsychiatric Disorders
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Authors
Yep, Rachel
Date
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
Eye tracking , Eye movements , Pro-anti-saccade , Free viewing , Response inhibition , Visual attention , Aging , Lifespan , Neuropsychiatric disorders , Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder , Bipolar disorder , Borderline personality disorder
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Abstract
Eye tracking has emerged as a ubiquitous research tool in neuroscience, owing to its simple administration, well-delineated neural correlates, and wide range of available paradigms. Structured paradigms such as the interleaved pro/anti-saccade task (IPAST) provide a robust measure of inhibitory control, while unstructured paradigms, such as the free viewing (FV) task, provide insight into implicit attentional processes. The overarching aim of this thesis is to evaluate the use of these paradigms to characterize changes in inhibitory and attentional control in healthy aging and neuropsychiatric illness. While many prior studies have used eye tracking to assess cognition in individuals of different age groups or neuropsychiatric cohorts, this thesis seeks to assess task behavior: (1) continuously across the lifespan, and (2) in three prevalent and overlapping neuropsychiatric disorders: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder (BD), and borderline personality disorder (BPD).
Chapters 2 and 3 provide detailed accounts of IPAST and FV behavior in a large, cross-sectional cohort of healthy individuals spanning young childhood through to old adulthood. In both chapters, generalized additive models and change point analyses were used to identify the ages at which measures of inhibitory and attentional control underwent periods of significant change.
Building upon Chapters 2 and 3, Chapter 4 contrasts adults with ADHD, BD, and BPD on IPAST performance, while Chapter 5 contrasts adults with ADHD and BD on a modified version of the IPAST involving the presentation of emotional faces. Deficient inhibitory control differentiated clinical groups from healthy controls in both studies. Finally, Chapter 6 describes the use of a newly developed version of the FV task, the FV-Faces task, to assess gaze and emotional face processing abnormalities in BD.
This body of work represents a substantial contribution toward our understanding of inhibitory and attentional processes across the lifespan and in adults with ADHD, BD, and BPD. These findings indicate that eye tracking is highly sensitive to changes in the neural circuitry underlying healthy aging and psychopathology. Future work adopting more ecologically valid behavioral paradigms and data-driven analysis techniques will be important to address whether eye tracking is specific enough to predict cognitive outcomes for individuals.
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Proquest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owne