Association of Visual Tracking Metrics With Post-concussion Symptomatology
Attention impairment may provide a cohesive neurobiological explanation for clusters of clinical symptoms that occur after a concussion; therefore, objective quantification of attention is needed. Visually tracking a moving target is an attention-dependent sensorimotor function, and eye movement can...
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doaj-a6121f2c5c374400bbc6bf0c97130c682020-11-25T02:45:41ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952018-07-01910.3389/fneur.2018.00611366173Association of Visual Tracking Metrics With Post-concussion SymptomatologyJun Maruta0Jun Maruta1Jun Maruta2Lisa A. Spielman3Umesh Rajashekar4Jamshid Ghajar5Jamshid Ghajar6Brain Trauma Foundation, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United StatesBrain Trauma Foundation, New York, NY, United StatesBrain Trauma Foundation, New York, NY, United StatesBrain Trauma Foundation, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesAttention impairment may provide a cohesive neurobiological explanation for clusters of clinical symptoms that occur after a concussion; therefore, objective quantification of attention is needed. Visually tracking a moving target is an attention-dependent sensorimotor function, and eye movement can be recorded easily and objectively to quantify performance. Our previous work suggested the utility of gaze-target synchronization metrics of a predictive visual tracking task in concussion screening and recovery monitoring. Another objectively quantifiable performance measure frequently suggested for concussion screening is simple visuo-manual reaction time (simple reaction time, SRT). Here, we used visual tracking and SRT tasks to assess changes between pre- and within-2-week post-concussion performances and explore their relationships to post-concussion symptomatology. Athletes participating in organized competitive sports were recruited. Visual tracking and SRT records were collected from the recruited athlete pool as baseline measures over a 4-year period. When athletes experienced a concussion, they were re-assessed within 2 weeks of their injury. We present the data from a total of 29 concussed athletes. Post-concussion symptom burden was assessed with the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire and subscales of the Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire. Post-concussion changes in visual tracking and SRT performance were examined using a paired t-test. Correlations of changes in visual tracking and SRT performance to symptom burden were examined using Pearson's coefficients. Post-concussion changes in visual tracking performance were not consistent among the athletes. However, changes in several visual tracking metrics had moderate to strong correlations to symptom scales (r up to 0.68). On the other hand, while post-concussion SRT performance was reduced (p < 0.01), the changes in the performance metrics were not meaningfully correlated to symptomatology (r ≤ 0.33). Results suggest that visual tracking performance metrics reflect clinical symptoms when assessed within 2 weeks of concussion. Evaluation of concussion requires assessments in multiple domains because the clinical profiles are heterogeneous. While most individuals show recovery within a week of injury, others experience prolonged recovery periods. Visual tracking performance metrics may serve as a biomarker of debilitating symptoms of concussion implicating attention as a root cause of such pathologies.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2018.00611/fullclosed head injurymild traumatic brain injuryocular pursuitpredictive timingsmooth pursuit |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Lisa A. Spielman Umesh Rajashekar Jamshid Ghajar Jamshid Ghajar |
spellingShingle |
Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Lisa A. Spielman Umesh Rajashekar Jamshid Ghajar Jamshid Ghajar Association of Visual Tracking Metrics With Post-concussion Symptomatology Frontiers in Neurology closed head injury mild traumatic brain injury ocular pursuit predictive timing smooth pursuit |
author_facet |
Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Lisa A. Spielman Umesh Rajashekar Jamshid Ghajar Jamshid Ghajar |
author_sort |
Jun Maruta |
title |
Association of Visual Tracking Metrics With Post-concussion Symptomatology |
title_short |
Association of Visual Tracking Metrics With Post-concussion Symptomatology |
title_full |
Association of Visual Tracking Metrics With Post-concussion Symptomatology |
title_fullStr |
Association of Visual Tracking Metrics With Post-concussion Symptomatology |
title_full_unstemmed |
Association of Visual Tracking Metrics With Post-concussion Symptomatology |
title_sort |
association of visual tracking metrics with post-concussion symptomatology |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Neurology |
issn |
1664-2295 |
publishDate |
2018-07-01 |
description |
Attention impairment may provide a cohesive neurobiological explanation for clusters of clinical symptoms that occur after a concussion; therefore, objective quantification of attention is needed. Visually tracking a moving target is an attention-dependent sensorimotor function, and eye movement can be recorded easily and objectively to quantify performance. Our previous work suggested the utility of gaze-target synchronization metrics of a predictive visual tracking task in concussion screening and recovery monitoring. Another objectively quantifiable performance measure frequently suggested for concussion screening is simple visuo-manual reaction time (simple reaction time, SRT). Here, we used visual tracking and SRT tasks to assess changes between pre- and within-2-week post-concussion performances and explore their relationships to post-concussion symptomatology. Athletes participating in organized competitive sports were recruited. Visual tracking and SRT records were collected from the recruited athlete pool as baseline measures over a 4-year period. When athletes experienced a concussion, they were re-assessed within 2 weeks of their injury. We present the data from a total of 29 concussed athletes. Post-concussion symptom burden was assessed with the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire and subscales of the Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire. Post-concussion changes in visual tracking and SRT performance were examined using a paired t-test. Correlations of changes in visual tracking and SRT performance to symptom burden were examined using Pearson's coefficients. Post-concussion changes in visual tracking performance were not consistent among the athletes. However, changes in several visual tracking metrics had moderate to strong correlations to symptom scales (r up to 0.68). On the other hand, while post-concussion SRT performance was reduced (p < 0.01), the changes in the performance metrics were not meaningfully correlated to symptomatology (r ≤ 0.33). Results suggest that visual tracking performance metrics reflect clinical symptoms when assessed within 2 weeks of concussion. Evaluation of concussion requires assessments in multiple domains because the clinical profiles are heterogeneous. While most individuals show recovery within a week of injury, others experience prolonged recovery periods. Visual tracking performance metrics may serve as a biomarker of debilitating symptoms of concussion implicating attention as a root cause of such pathologies. |
topic |
closed head injury mild traumatic brain injury ocular pursuit predictive timing smooth pursuit |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2018.00611/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
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