ObjectiveQuantitative saccadic testing is a non-invasive method of evaluating the neural networks involved in the control of eye movements. The aim of this study is to provide a standardized and reproducible protocol for infrared oculography measurements of eye movements and analysis, which can be applied for various diseases in a multicenter setting.MethodsDevelopment of a protocol to Demonstrate Eye Movement Networks with Saccades (DEMoNS) using infrared oculography. Automated analysis methods were used to calculate parameters describing the characteristics of the saccadic eye movements. The two measurements of the subjects were compared with descriptive and reproducibility statistics.ResultsInfrared oculography measurements of all subjects were performed using the DEMoNS protocol and various saccadic parameters were calculated automatically from 28 subjects. Saccadic parameters such as: peak velocity, latency and saccade pair ratios showed excellent reproducibility (intra-class correlation coefficients > 0.9). Parameters describing performance of more complex tasks showed moderate to good reproducibility (intra-class correlation coefficients 0.63–0.78).ConclusionsThis study provides a standardized and transparent protocol for measuring and analyzing saccadic eye movements in a multicenter setting. The DEMoNS protocol details outcome measures for treatment trial which are of excellent reproducibility. The DEMoNS protocol can be applied to the study of saccadic eye movements in various neurodegenerative and motor diseases.

Multiple isoforms of dystrophin (Dp427, Dp260, Dp140, Dp71) are expressed differentially in the central nervous system (CNS) including the retinal layers. Disruption of these protein products is responsible for cognitive dysfunction, electroretinogram (ERG) abnormalities and behavioural disorders in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). We studied the ocular characteristics and neuropsychiatric profile of 16 DMD boys. The ISCEV standard, full-field flash ERGs were assessed. Intellectual ability and behavioural disturbances were measured. All genotypes were associated with mildly abnormal photopic ERG a:b-wave amplitude ratios. In addition, we identified the following genotype/phenotype correlations: boys with mutations upstream of exon 30 (ie, isolated Dp427 altered expression) showed normal scotopic a:b ratios, abnormal photopic oscillatory potential OP2 and normal scotopic OP2. Conversely, all boys with DMD mutations downstream of exon 30 showed profoundly 'negative' scotopic ERGs (a:b ratios 41). In these patients, the involvement of Dp260 isoform resulted in the absence of slow rod pathway signalling in15 Hz scotopic flicker ERGs. These boys had abnormal scotopic OP2 and normal photopic OP2. Finally, children with mutations also affecting Dp71 were associated with more pronounced electronegative ERGs. When correlating ERGs to neurodevelopmental outcome, we found a positive correlation between negative scotopic ERGs and neurodevelopmental disturbances, and the most severe findings were in boys with Dp71 disruption. These findings suggest a strong association between DMD mutations affecting different DMD isoforms with characteristically abnormal scotopic ERGs and severe neurodevelopmental problems. The role of the ERG as a potential biomarker for dystrophin function in the CNS and response to novel genetic therapies warrants further exploration.

Background The WHO's Vision 2020 global initiative against blindness, launched in 2000, prioritises children. Progress has been hampered by the global paucity of epidemiological data about childhood visual disability. The British Childhood Visual Impairment and Blindness Study 2 (BCVIS2) was undertaken to address this evidence gap. Methods UK-wide prospective population-based observational study of all those aged under 18 years newly diagnosed with visual impairment or blindness between Oct 1, 2015 and Nov 1 2016. Eligible children were notified simultaneously but independently by their managing ophthalmologists and paediatricians via the two national active surveillance schemes, the British Ophthalmic and Paediatric Surveillance Units. Standardised detailed data were collected at diagnosis and one year later. Incidence estimates and relative rates by key sociodemographic factors were calculated. Descriptive analyses were undertaken of underlying ophthalmic disorders and nonophthalmic comorbidities. FindingsOf 784 cases, 72% had additional non-ophthalmic impairments/disorders and 4% died within the year. Annual incidence was highest in the first year of life, 5•2 per 10,000 (95% CI 4•7-5•7) with cumulative incidence by 18 years of 10•0 per 10,000 (95% CI 9•4 to 10•8). Rates were higher for those from any ethnic minority group, the lowest quintile of socio-economic status, born preterm or with low birthweight. Only 44% had a single ophthalmic condition: disorders of the brain/visual pathways affected 48% overall. Prenatal or perinatal aetiological factors accounted for 84% of all conditions. InterpretationBCVIS2 provides a contemporary snapshot of the heterogeneity, multi-morbidity and vulnerability associated with childhood visual disability in a high income country, and the arising complex needs. These findings will facilitate developing and delivering healthcare and planning interventional research. They highlight the importance of including childhood visual disability as a sentinel event and metric in global child health initiatives.

Sclerotherapy is a safe and highly effective treatment for orbital LMs with excellent VA outcomes. It should be considered as the first-line treatment for this condition.

The ability to anticipate the population-wide response of a target audience to a new movie or TV series, before its release, is critical to the film industry. Equally important is the ability to understand the underlying factors that drive or characterize viewer’s decision to watch a movie. Traditional approaches (which involve pilot test-screenings, questionnaires, and focus groups) have reached a plateau in their ability to predict the population-wide responses to new movies. In this study, we develop a novel computational approach for extracting neurophysiological electroencephalography (EEG) and eye-gaze based metrics to predict the population-wide behavior of movie goers. We further, explore the connection of the derived metrics to the underlying cognitive processes that might drive moviegoers’ decision to watch a movie. Towards that, we recorded neural activity—through the use of EEG—and eye-gaze activity from a group of naive individuals while watching movie trailers of pre-selected movies for which the population-wide preference is captured by the movie’s market performance (i.e., box-office ticket sales in the US). Our findings show that the neural based metrics, derived using the proposed methodology, carry predictive information about the broader audience decisions to watch a movie, above and beyond traditional methods. In particular, neural metrics are shown to predict up to 72% of the variance of the films’ performance at their premiere and up to 67% of the variance at following weekends; which corresponds to a 23-fold increase in prediction accuracy compared to current neurophysiological or traditional methods. We discuss our findings in the context of existing literature and hypothesize on the possible connection of the derived neurophysiological metrics to cognitive states of focused attention, the encoding of long-term memory, and the synchronization of different components of the brain’s rewards network. Beyond the practical implication in predicting and understanding the behavior of moviegoers, the proposed approach can facilitate the use of video stimuli in neuroscience research; such as the study of individual differences in attention-deficit disorders, and the study of desensitization to media violence.

Retinal injuries secondary to handheld laser devices may be difficult to diagnose and are likely underreported. It is important that such data are in the public domain, so regulatory authorities recognize the importance of laser retinopathy as an avoidable cause of childhood visual impairment and take steps to minimize the incidence and impact of laser injuries.

Aim: To determine the temporal retinal vessel angle in babies and its relation to preterm birth. Methods: Digital images were obtained during routine screening for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The temporal retinal vessel angle was measured in 164 eyes of 82 babies born ''very preterm'' (24-27 weeks gestational age (GA)), ''preterm'' (28-31 weeks GA), and ''near term'' (>32 weeks GA). Results: Mean temporal vessel angle (TVA) for all three GA groups together is 80.0˚(SD 17.0˚) for the right eye and 80.5˚(16.7˚) for the left eye. The range is right eye 59-106˚, left eye 69-97˚, with 95% data above 67˚for the right and 63˚for the left eye. For babies born near term, TVA is 82˚in each eye. There is a high degree of interocular symmetry between right and left eyes and a statistically insignificant trend for increasing TVA with increasing GA. The presence and stage of ROP affected one parameter of the left eye alone. Conclusions: These data provide normative data on the TVA in babies and will facilitate, especially if there is interocular asymmetry, determining whether there is macular displacement.

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