Tracking the eyes to track decline: Global eye movement similarity as a novel neuropsychological marker of mild cognitive impairment

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

Abstract

Introduction: Across two studies, we investigated whether global eye movement similarity reflects visuospatial memory impairment in older adults, aiming to identify a novel neuropsychological marker of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: In Study 1, 35 participants completed a global eye movement similarity memory (GEMS-M) task, viewing indoor scene images with three objects and identifying changes during the recognition phase. In Study 2, 60 participants (30 healthy controls, 30 with MCI) completed a passive version of the task without explicit memory judgment. Results: Study 1 showed that the similarity of global eye movement patterns between encoding and recognition phases predicted memory performance, particularly when an object was added. Study 2 demonstrated that global eye movement similarity, combined with demographics, discriminated MCI patients from healthy controls with an AUC of 0.93. Discussion: Our findings suggest that global eye movement similarity may serve as a promising tool for the early detection of MCI.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
FachzeitschriftGeroScience
PublikationsstatusElektronische Veröffentlichung vor Drucklegung - 25 Feb. 2026
Peer-Review-StatusJa

Externe IDs

PubMed 41739373

Schlagworte

Schlagwörter

  • Fixation similarity, Generalized linear mixed effects model, Global eye movement similarity, Mild cognitive impairment, Scanpath similarity, Visuospatial working memory