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American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias logoLink to American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
. 2009 Jun-Jul;24(3):258–266. doi: 10.1177/1533317509332093

Eye Tracking During a Visual Paired Comparison Task as a Predictor of Early Dementia

Michael D Crutcher 1, Rose Calhoun-Haney 2, Cecelia M Manzanares 3, James J Lah 4, Allan I Levey 5, Stuart M Zola 6
PMCID: PMC2701976  NIHMSID: NIHMS117178  PMID: 19246573

Abstract

The authors present findings from a behavioral task (visual paired comparison) using infrared eye-tracking that could potentially be useful in predicting the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Delay intervals of 2 seconds and 2 minutes were used between the initial viewing of a picture and when the picture was displayed alongside a novel picture. Eye-tracking revealed that at the 2-second delay, 6 patients with mild cognitive impairment, 15 matched control participants (normal control), and 4 neurological control participants with Parkinson's disease performed comparably, viewing the novel picture greater than 71% of the time. When the delay increased to 2 minutes, patients with mild cognitive impairment viewed the novel picture only 53% of the time (P < .05), while control participants and participants with Parkinson's disease remained above 70%. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of this task for assessing normal as well as impaired memory function.

Keywords: mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, eye tracking, early diagnosis, visual paired comparison, preferential looking

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Contributor Information

Michael D. Crutcher, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Emory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia.

Rose Calhoun-Haney, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Emory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia.

Cecelia M. Manzanares, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Emory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia

James J. Lah, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia.

Allan I. Levey, Emory Center for Neurodegenerative Disease, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia.

Stuart M. Zola, Yerkes National Primate Research Center (Director), Emory University, Emory Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia, szola@rmy.emory.edu .

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