The use of visual attention for evaluating consumer behavior has become a relevant field in recent years, allowing researchers to understand the decision-making processes beyond classical self-reports. In our research, we focused on using eye-tracking as a method to understand consumer preferences in children. Twenty-eight subjects with ages between 7 and 12 years participated in the experiment. Participants were involved in two consecutive phases. The initial phase consisted of the visualization of a set of stimuli for decision-making in an eight-position layout called Alternative Forced-choice. Then the subjects were asked to freely analyze the set of stimuli, they needed to choose the best in terms of preference. The sample was randomly divided into two groups balanced by gender. One group visualized a set of icons and the other a set of toys. The final phase was an independent assessment of each stimulus viewed in the initial phase in terms of liking/disliking using a 7-point Likert scale. Sixty-four stimuli were designed for each of the groups. The visual attention was measured using a non-obstructive eye-tracking device. The results revealed two novel insights. Firstly, the time of fixation during the last four visits to each stimulus before the decision-making instant allows us to recognize the icon or toy chosen from the eight alternatives with a 71.2 and 67.2% of accuracy, respectively. The result supports the use of visual attention measurements as an implicit tool to analyze decision-making and preferences in children. Secondly, eye movement and the choice of liking/disliking choice are influenced by stimuli design dimensions. The icon observation results revealed how gender samples have different fixation and different visit times which depend on stimuli design dimension. The toy observations results revealed how the materials determinate the largest amount fixations, also, the visit times were differentiated by gender. This research presents a relevant empirical data to understand the decision-making phenomenon by analyzing eye movement behavior. The presented method can be applied to recognize the choice likelihood between several alternatives. Finally, children's opinions represent an extra difficulty judgment to be determined, and the eye-tracking technique seen as an implicit measure to tackle it.

(1) Background: Saccadic eye movements are rapid eye movements aimed to position the object image on the central retina, ensuring high-resolution data sampling across the visual field. Although saccadic eye movements are studied extensively, different experimental settings applied across different studies have left an open question of whether and how stimulus parameters can affect the saccadic performance. The current study aims to explore the effect of stimulus contrast and spatial position on saccadic eye movement latency, peak velocity and accuracy measurements. (2) Methods: Saccadic eye movement targets of different contrast levels were presented at four different spatial positions. The eye movements were recorded with a Tobii Pro Fusion video-oculograph (250 Hz). (3) Results: The results demonstrate a significant effect of stimulus spatial position on the latency and peak velocity measurements at a medium grey background, 30 cd/m2 (negative and positive stimulus polarity), light grey background, 90 cd/m2 (negative polarity), and black background, 3 cd/m2 (positive polarity). A significant effect of the stimulus spatial position was observed on the accuracy measurements when the saccadic eye movement stimuli were presented on a medium grey background (negative polarity) and on a black background. No significant effect of stimulus contrast was observed on the peak velocity measurements under all conditions. A significant stimulus contrast effect on latency and accuracy was observed only on a light grey background. (4) Conclusions: The best saccadic eye movement performance (lowest latency, highest peak velocity and accuracy measurements) can be observed when the saccades are oriented to the right and left from the central fixation point. Furthermore, when presenting the stimulus on a light grey background, a very low contrast stimuli should be considered carefully.

People with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) are likely to experience chronic intermittent hypoxia while sleeping. The physiological effects of intermittent hypoxia on the respiratory system during spontaneous sleep in individuals with chronic cervical SCI are unknown. We hypothesized that individuals with cervical SCI would demonstrate higher short- and long-term ventilatory responses to acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH) exposure than individuals with thoracic SCI during sleep. Twenty participants (10 with cervical SCI [9 male] and 10 with thoracic SCI [6 male]) underwent an AIH and sham protocol during sleep. During the AIH protocol, each participant experienced 15 episodes of isocapnic hypoxia using mixed gases of 100% nitrogen (N2 ) and 40% carbon dioxide (CO2 ) to achieve an oxygen saturation of less than 90%. This was followed by two breaths of 100% oxygen (O2 ). Measurements were collected before, during, and 40 min after the AIH protocol to obtain ventilatory data. During the sham protocol, participants breathed room air for the same amount of time that elapsed during the AIH protocol and at approximately the same time of night. Hypoxic ventilatory response (HVR) during the AIH protocol was significantly higher in participants with cervical SCI than those with thoracic SCI. There was no significant difference in minute ventilation (V.E. ), tidal volume (V.T. ), or respiratory frequency (f) during the recovery period after AIH in cervical SCI compared to thoracic SCI groups. Individuals with cervical SCI demonstrated a significant short-term increase in HVR compared to thoracic SCI. However, there was no evidence of ventilatory long-term facilitation following AIH in either group.

Recent research indicates that anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) applied over the frontal eye field (FEF) can improve saccadic eye movement control in healthy young adults. The current research set out to determine whether similar results can be produced using a clinically practical protocol, whether tDCS applied over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) might also afford benefits, and whether benefits extend to older adults. Twenty young and 10 older adults completed two active (FEF and DLPFC) and one sham stimulation session. To aid clinical translation, the method of positioning the electrodes entailed simple measurements only. Saccadic performance following anodal tDCS applied over the FEF or DLPFC did not differ from the sham condition in either age group. Additionally, saccadic performance contralateral to the active electrodes showed no evidence of benefits over ipsilateral performance. These results call into question whether the protocol utilized can be applied effectively using only simple measurements to localize the relevant frontal subregion. Future efforts to develop a clinically practical tDCS protocol to improve saccadic eye movement control should include a sham control condition and consider adjusting the tDCS electrode montage and current strength to optimize the chances of conferring benefits in the population under study.

Patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) are at high risk for conversion to synucleinopathy and Parkinson disease (PD). This can potentially be monitored by measuring gait characteristics of iRBD patients, although quantitative data are scarce and previous studies have reported inconsistent findings. This study investigated subclinical gait changes in polysomnography-proven iRBD patients compared to healthy controls (HCs) during 3 different walking conditions using wearable motor sensors in order to determine whether gait changes can be detected in iRBD patients that could reflect early symptoms of movement disorder. A total 31 iRBD patients and 20 HCs were asked to walk in a 10-m corridor at their usual pace, their fastest pace, and a normal pace while performing an arithmetic operation (dual-task condition) for 1 min each while using a wearable gait analysis system. General gait measurements including stride length, stride velocity, stride time, gait length asymmetry, and gait variability did not differ between iRBD patients and HCs; however, the patients showed decreases in range of motion (P = 0.004) and peak angular velocity of the trunk (P = 0.001) that were significant in all 3 walking conditions. iRBD patients also had a longer step time before turning compared to HCs (P = 0.035), and the difference between groups remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, and height. The decreased trunk motion while walking and increased step time before turning observed in iRBD may be early manifestations of body rigidity and freezing of gait and are possible prodromal symptoms of PD.

Background: The pathogenesis of dementia often starts several years prior to clinical onset during which the individual is asymptomatic. Existing strategies for the accurate diagnosis of early dementia are limited by high cost and the invasive nature of the procedures. Eye movement parameters associated with cognitive functions may be helpful in the early identification of dementia and in the development and evaluation of preventive and therapeutic strategies. Objective: We aimed to assess differences in eye movement parameters between healthy elderly individuals and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Furthermore, we examined the correlations between eye movement parameters with cognitive functions and specific hemispheric region and neural structures in individuals with MCI. Method: Eighty individuals with MCI without dementia (based on DSM-IV criteria) identified by community screening and 170 healthy controls were administered Chinese versions of MoCA and NTB, and a long (20 min) or short (5 min) version of a visual paired comparison (VPC) task. Two weeks later, 44 MCI patients and 107 healthy controls completed a retest of the VPC task, 44 MCI patients and 43 healthy controls among them administered a MRI. At the end of 1-year follow-up, a subset of 26 individuals with MCI and 57 healthy controls were administered the long version of VPC task and MoCA test again. Eye movement parameters and the relationship of eye movement parameters with cognitive functions and with changes in neural structures were compared between groups. Results: Patients with MCI were older, had less education, and had lower scores on cognitive tests than healthy controls. After adjustment for age and level of education, patients with MCI had lower novelty preference scores on the VPC than healthy controls. Using the logistic regression model, the amount of time that subjects focused on these novel images could predict MCI patients from normal elderly with an out of sample area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of 0.62. Furthermore, the cognition score of subjects whose novelty preference score was low decreased more remarkably in 1 year. For both the patient and control groups, VPC novelty preference was significantly correlated with verbal fluency and delayed and short-term memory function. Novelty preference score was also significantly correlated with the cortical thickness of several structures in the right hemisphere. Conclusion: Eye movement parameters are stable indicators to distinguish patients with MCI and cognitively normal subjects and are not affected by different testing versions and numbers. Additionally, the patients' cognitive deficits and eye movement indices were correlated. Future longitudinal studies should further explore the clinical utility of eye movement parameters as early markers of MCI.

Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) is one of the most common causes of developmental disabilities and neurobehavioral deficits. Despite the high-prevalence of FASD, the current diagnostic process is challenging and time- and money- consuming, with underreported profiles of the neurocognitive and neurobehavioral impairments because of limited clinical capacity. We assessed children/youth with FASD from a multimodal perspective and developed a high-performing, low-cost screening protocol using a machine learning framework. Methods and Findings: Participants with FASD and age-matched typically developing controls completed up to six assessments, including saccadic eye movement tasks (prosaccade, antisaccade, and memory-guided saccade), free viewing of videos, psychometric tests, and neuroimaging of the corpus callosum. We comparatively investigated new machine learning methods applied to these data, toward the acquisition of a quantitative signature of the neurodevelopmental deficits, and the development of an objective, high-throughput screening tool to identify children/youth with FASD. Our method provides a comprehensive profile of distinct measures in domains including sensorimotor and visuospatial control, visual perception, attention, inhibition, working memory, academic functions, and brain structure. We also showed that a combination of four to six assessments yields the best FASD vs. control classification accuracy; however, this protocol is expensive and time consuming. We conducted a cost/benefit analysis of the six assessments and developed a high-performing, low-cost screening protocol based on a subset of eye movement and psychometric tests that approached the best result under a range of constraints (time, cost, participant age, required administration, and access to neuroimaging facility). Using insights from the theory of value of information, we proposed an optimal annual screening procedure for children at risk of FASD. Conclusions: We developed a high-capacity, low-cost screening procedure under constrains, with high expected monetary benefit, substantial impact of the referral and diagnostic process, and expected maximized long-term benefits to the tested individuals and to society. This annual screening procedure for children/youth at risk of FASD can be easily and widely deployed for early identification, potentially leading to earlier intervention and treatment. This is crucial for neurodevelopmental disorders, to mitigate the severity of the disorder and/or frequency of secondary comorbidities.

Sleep is known to promote recovery post-stroke. However, there is a paucity of data profiling sleep oscillations in the post-stroke human brain. Recent rodent work showed that resurgence of physiologic spindles coupled to sleep slow oscillations (SOs) and concomitant decrease in pathological delta (δ) waves is associated with sustained motor performance gains during stroke recovery. The goal of this study was to evaluate bilaterality of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep-oscillations (namely SOs, δ-waves, spindles, and their nesting) in post-stroke patients vs. healthy control subjects. We analyzed NREM-marked electroencephalography (EEG) data in hospitalized stroke-patients (n = 5) and healthy subjects (n = 3). We used a laterality index to evaluate symmetry of NREM oscillations across hemispheres. We found that stroke subjects had pronounced asymmetry in the oscillations, with a predominance of SOs, δ-waves, spindles, and nested spindles in affected hemisphere, when compared to the healthy subjects. Recent preclinical work classified SO-nested spindles as restorative post-stroke and δ-wave-nested spindles as pathological. We found that the ratio of SO-nested spindles laterality index to δ-wave-nested spindles laterality index was lower in stroke subjects. Using linear mixed models (which included random effects of concurrent pharmacologic drugs), we found large and medium effect size for δ-wave nested spindle and SO-nested spindle, respectively. Our results in this pilot study indicate that considering laterality index of NREM oscillations might be a useful metric for assessing recovery post-stroke and that factoring in pharmacologic drugs may be important when targeting sleep modulation for neurorehabilitation post-stroke.

Patients with idiopathic rapid eye movement behavior disorder (IRBD) have been suggested to exhibit altered cerebral perfusion and abnormal cerebral blood flow, which imply a possibility of cerebral autoregulation (CA) impairment. We aimed to investigate the dynamic CA (dCA) in patients with IRBD during wakefulness and to explore the correlations between dCA parameters and clinical measurements.

Background: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is one of the greatest problems with which cancer survivors have to deal. High levels of FCR are characterized by intrusive thoughts about cancer-related events and re-experiencing these events, avoidance of reminders of cancer, and hypervigilance, similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy focuses on these images and memories. It is effective in reducing PTSD and may be effective in reducing high levels of FCR.Objective: The aim of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of EMDR for severe FCR in breast and colorectal cancer survivors.Method: A multiple-baseline single-case experimental design (n = 8) was used. Daily repeated measurements for FCR were taken during the baseline phase and treatment phase, post-treatment, and at the 3 month follow-up. Participants answered the Cancer Worry Scale (CWS) and the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory, Dutch version (FCRI-NL) five times, i.e. at the start and at the end of each phase (baseline, treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up). The study was prospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NL8223).Results: Visual analysis and effect size calculation by Tau-U were executed for the daily questionnaire on FCR. The weighted average Tau-U score was .63 (p < .01) for baseline versus post-treatment, indicating large change, and .53 (p < .01) between baseline and follow-up, indicating moderate change. The scores on the CWS and FCRI-NL-SF decreased significantly from baseline to follow-up.Conclusion: The results seem promising for EMDR therapy as a potentially effective treatment for FCR. Further research is recommended.

Recent experiments suggest that brainstem GABAergic neurons may control rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep. However, understanding their pharmacology/physiology has been hindered by difficulty in identification. Here we report that mice expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the control of the GAD67 promoter (GAD67-GFP knock-in mice) exhibit numerous GFP-positive neurons in the central gray and reticular formation, allowing on-line identification in vitro. Small (10-15 microm) or medium-sized (15-25 microm) GFP-positive perikarya surrounded larger serotonergic, noradrenergic, cholinergic and reticular neurons, and > 96% of neurons were double-labeled for GFP and GABA, confirming that GFP-positive neurons are GABAergic. Whole-cell recordings in brainstem regions important for promoting REM sleep [subcoeruleus (SubC) or pontine nucleus oralis (PnO) regions] revealed that GFP-positive neurons were spontaneously active at 3-12 Hz, fired tonically, and possessed a medium-sized depolarizing sag during hyperpolarizing steps. Many neurons also exhibited a small, low-threshold calcium spike. GFP-positive neurons were tested with pharmacological agents known to promote (carbachol) or inhibit (orexin A) REM sleep. SubC GFP-positive neurons were excited by the cholinergic agonist carbachol, whereas those in the PnO were either inhibited or excited. GFP-positive neurons in both areas were excited by orexins/hypocretins. These data are congruent with the hypothesis that carbachol-inhibited GABAergic PnO neurons project to, and inhibit, REM-on SubC reticular neurons during waking, whereas carbachol-excited SubC and PnO GABAergic neurons are involved in silencing locus coeruleus and dorsal raphe aminergic neurons during REM sleep. Orexinergic suppression of REM during waking is probably mediated in part via excitation of acetylcholine-inhibited GABAergic neurons.

Introduction: The Flash technique is a novel intervention aimed at rapidly decreasing the subjective disturbance of an aversive memory, thereby serving as a potential way of treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The protocol is used to stimulate clients to engage in positive imagery while being discouraged to actively recollect the targeted disturbing memory. Previous research into the Flash technique's efficacy shows promising results, yet controlled studies are lacking. Objectives: To test the efficacy of the Flash technique, it was compared to an abbreviated eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy protocol in a controlled experimental setting. We hypothesized that the Flash technique would lead to a larger decrease in the emotionality and vividness of an aversive autobiographical memory when compared to EMDR therapy. Our second hypothesis was that the procedure of the Flash technique would be evaluated more pleasant by its receiver. Method: The sample consisted of 60 non-clinical participants (mean age = 25.28 years; 73.33% female) who were able to recall an aversive autobiographical memory. They were randomized to either the Flash technique or the EMDR therapy condition. Measurements consisted of emotionality and vividness-ratings pre and post intervention, and at 1-week follow-up. Results: Bayesian analyses showed no differences between Flash and EMDR to the extent to which the emotionality and vividness of their memory was reduced. Afterward, the Flash technique was rated more pleasant than EMDR. Conclusion: The results support the claim that the Flash technique might be used as a brief and efficacious intervention for individuals suffering from disturbing memories. Although the results suggest that its efficacy does not differ from EMDR, the Flash technique seems to yield similar outcomes in a more pleasant way. Further research into its working mechanisms and in a clinical sample is required.

Addiction constitutes a major public health problem, and despite treatment, relapse rates remain very high. Preliminary findings suggest that Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), an evidence-based treatment for PTSD, may also reduce craving and relapse rates when applied in substance abuse. This study aims to determine the feasibility, efficacy and effectiveness of EMDR when added to treatment as usual (TAU) for addiction in alcohol dependent outpatients, compared to TAU only.

Veterinary and human medicine are still seeking a conclusive explanation of the function of sleep, including the change in sleep behaviour over the course of an individual's lifetime. In human medicine, sleep disorders and abnormalities in the electroencephalogram are used for prognostic statements, therapeutic means and diagnoses. To facilitate such use in foal medicine, we monitored 10 foals polysomnographically for 48 h. Via 10 attached cup electrodes, brain waves were recorded by electroencephalography, eye movements by electrooculography and muscle activity by electromyography. Wireless polysomnographs allowed us to measure the foals in their home stables. In addition, each foal was simultaneously monitored with infrared video cameras. By combining the recorded data, we determined the time budgeting of the foals over 48 h, whereby the states of vigilance were divided into wakefulness, light sleep, slow-wave sleep and rapid-eye-movement sleep, and the body positions into standing, suckling, sternal recumbency and lateral recumbency. The results of the qualitative analyses showed that the brain waves of the foals differ in their morphology from those previously reported for adult horses. The quantitative data analyses revealed that foals suckle throughout all periods of the day, including night-time. The results of our combined measurements allow optimizing the daily schedule of the foals according to their sleep and activity times. We recommend that stall rest should begin no later than 9.00 p.m. and daily stable work should be done in the late afternoon.

EEG involves the recording, analysis, and interpretation of voltages recorded on the human scalp which originate from brain gray matter. EEG is one of the most popular methods of studying and understanding the processes that underlie behavior. This is so, because EEG is relatively cheap, easy to wear, light weight and has high temporal resolution. In terms of behavior, this encompasses actions, such as movements that are performed in response to the environment. However, there are methodological difficulties which can occur when recording EEG during movement such as movement artifacts. Thus, most studies about the human brain have examined activations during static conditions. This article attempts to compile and describe relevant methodological solutions that emerged in order to measure body and brain dynamics during motion. These descriptions cover suggestions on how to avoid and reduce motion artifacts, hardware, software and techniques for synchronously recording EEG, EMG, kinematics, kinetics, and eye movements during motion. Additionally, we present various recording systems, EEG electrodes, caps and methods for determinating real/custom electrode positions. In the end we will conclude that it is possible to record and analyze synchronized brain and body dynamics related to movement or exercise tasks.

Oculometric measures have been proven to be useful markers of mind-wandering during visual tasks such as reading. However, little is known about ocular activity during mindfulness meditation, a mental practice naturally involving mind-wandering episodes. In order to explore this issue, we extracted closed-eyes ocular movement measurements via a covert technique (EEG recordings) from expert meditators during two repetitions of a 7-minute mindfulness meditation session, focusing on the breath, and two repetitions of a 7-minute instructed mind-wandering task. Power spectral density was estimated on both the vertical and horizontal components of eye movements. The results show a significantly smaller average amplitude of eye movements in the delta band (1-4 Hz) during mindfulness meditation than instructed mind-wandering. Moreover, participants' meditation expertise correlated significantly with this average amplitude during both tasks, with more experienced meditators generally moving their eyes less than less experienced meditators. These findings suggest the potential use of this measure to detect mind-wandering episodes during mindfulness meditation and to assess meditation performance.

Several recent studies have reported enhanced memory when retrieval is preceded by repetitive horizontal eye movements, relative to vertical or no eye movements. The reported memory boost has been referred to as the Saccade-Induced Retrieval Enhancement (SIRE) effect. Across two experiments, memory performance was compared following repetitive horizontal or vertical eye movements, as well as following a control condition of no eye movements. In Experiment 1, we conceptually replicated Christman and colleagues' seminal study, finding a statistically significant SIRE effect, albeit with weak Bayesian evidence. We therefore sought to conduct another close extension. In Experiment 2, horizontal and vertical eye movement conditions were manipulated separately, and sample size was increased. No evidence of a SIRE effect was found: Bayesian statistical analyses demonstrated significant evidence for a null effect. Taken together, these experiments suggest that the SIRE effect is inconsistent. The current experiments call into question the generalizability of the SIRE effect and suggest that its presence is very sensitive to experimental design. Future work should further assess the robustness of the effect before exploring related theories or underlying mechanisms.

Traffic simulation is widely used for modeling, planning, and analyzing different strategies for traffic control and road development in a cost-efficient manner. In order to perform an intersection simulation, random vehicle trip data are typically applied to an intersection network, making them unrealistic. In this paper, we address this issue by presenting two different methods of incorporating actual turning movement count (TMC) data and comparing their similarity for intersection simulation and analysis. The TMC of three intersections in Las Vegas are estimated separately for one hour using a developed vision-based tracking system and they are incorporated into Simulation of Urban MObility (SUMO) for estimating traffic measurements and traffic signal design. t-tests with a 95% confidence interval on the simulation variables demonstrate the importance of using a route-based creation method which injects vehicles into a simulation environment based on the frame-level departure time. The intersection analyses and comparisons are performed based on estimated traffic measurements such as travel time, density, lane density, occupancy, and normalized waiting time. Since the critical edge of each intersection network is identified based on a higher normalized waiting time, new traffic signal designs are suggested based on the actual critical turning movements and improvements in vehicle travel time are achieved to better accommodate the actual traffic demand.

Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease and a leading cause of visual disability. Automated assessment of the visual field determines the different stages in the disease process: it would be desirable to link these measurements taken in the clinic with patient's actual function, or establish if patients compensate for their restricted field of view when performing everyday tasks. Hence, this study investigated eye movements in glaucomatous patients when viewing driving scenes in a hazard perception test (HPT).

Trauma contributes to psychosis and in psychotic disorders post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often a comorbid disorder. A problem is that PTSD is underdiagnosed and undertreated in people with psychotic disorders. This study's primary goal is to examine the efficacy and safety of prolonged exposure and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for PTSD in patients with both psychotic disorders and PTSD, as compared to a waiting list. Secondly, the effects of both treatments are determined on (a) symptoms of psychosis, in particular verbal hallucinations, (b) depression and social performance, and (c) economic costs. Thirdly, goals concern links between trauma exposure and psychotic symptomatology and the prevalence of exposure to traumatic events, and of PTSD. Fourthly predictors, moderators, and mediators for treatment success will be explored. These include cognitions and experiences concerning treatment harm, credibility and burden in both participants and therapists.