Oculomotor control in asymptomatic and recently diagnosed individuals with the genetic marker for Huntington’s disease

Blekher, Tanya; Yee, Robert D.; Kirkwood, Sandra C.; Hake, Ann Marie; Stout, Julie C.; Weaver, Marjorie; Foroud, Tatiana

doi:10.1016/j.visres.2004.06.006

Cited by 70 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Poor performance in the DSST has been reported in various psychiatric and neurological disorders like major depression [7] , dementia of Alzheimer's type [7,9] , solvent abuse [8] , Parkinson's disease [9] , alcohol dependence [10] , Huntington's disease [11] , autism spectrum disorders [12] and schizophrenia [6] . The data of our study suggest pervasive increases in oxyHb in the frontal cortex during the DSST with healthy volunteers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frontal Activity during the Digit Symbol Substitution Test Determined by Multichannel Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

et al. 2008

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Backgrounds: The digit symbol substitution test (DSST) is a clinically useful and widely accepted tool for the detection of various psychiatric disorders. Investigating neural activity during the DSST is useful when considering the relationship between the poor performance on the DSST and neurocognitive deficits. However, obtaining reliable functional imaging of the neural mechanisms associated with this test is challenging due to motion artifacts. Aims: To circumvent this problem, we examined frontal lobe activity during the DSST using multichannel near-infrared spectroscopy, a noninvasive functional imaging technique that does not interfere with the DSST procedure. Methods: Twenty-five healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. Changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb) during the DSST were determined bilaterally in 52 measurement points (channels) on the frontal area. Results: We found significant increases in oxyHb in more than 70% of the channels, with the intensity of the increase being more pronounced in the left hemisphere. Several channels showed significant positive correlations between changes in oxyHb and DSST performance. Some of the channels with a significant increase in oxyHb during the DSST did not show a correlation with the DSST performance. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the DSST could prove useful as a frontal lobe stimulating task. Further examinations of DSST/near-infrared spectroscopy analyses of neural mechanisms in patients with psychiatric and neurological diseases are necessary to assess its effectiveness in clinical practice for the evaluation of neuropsychopathology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frontal Activity during the Digit Symbol Substitution Test Determined by Multichannel Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

et al. 2008

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“…84,93,94 In addition, saccadic hypometria has been documented in mildly affected HD patients. 78,[91][92][93][95][96][97][98][99] Later on in the disease, manifest patients usually begin to show more prominent slowing of saccades, as well as smooth pursuit deficits. Eventually, a reduced range of eye movements is observed with vertical saccades affected more than horizontal ones.…”

Section: Clinical Ocular Motor Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocular motor abnormalities in neurodegenerative disorders

Antoniades

Kennard

2014

Eye

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Eye movements are a source of valuable information to both clinicians and scientists as abnormalities of them frequently act as clues to the localization of a disease process. Classically, they are divided into two main types: those that hold the gaze, keeping images steady on the retina (vestibulo-ocular and optokinetic reflexes) and those that shift gaze and redirect the line of sight to a new object of interest (saccades, vergence, and smooth pursuit). Here we will review some of the major ocular motor abnormalities present in neurodegenerative disorders.

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“…After the participant completed the testing procedure, an interactive computerized analysis 18 of the right eye position was carried out by an experienced technician who was not aware of the results of neurologic and molecular testing. The first saccade (or sequence of saccades in the MG2 task) was identified in each trial and the correct trials were selected as those in which the first saccades were consistent with the task instructions.…”

Section: Figure 1 (A) Schematic Diagram Of the Experimental Conditiomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a previous study, we assessed eye movement deficits in a small sample of at-risk individuals and found that individuals prediagnostic for HD demonstrated deficits of memory guided saccades. 18 Based on those results, we emphasized measures of volitional saccades in the current battery of tests.Method. Participants were recruited through the National Research Roster for Huntington Disease Patients and Families.…”

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confidence: 99%

Periodic alternating nystagmus with circumscribed nodular lesion

Oh¹,

Choi²,

Oh³

et al. 2006

Neurology

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Abstract-Objective:To evaluate quantitative measures of eye movements as possible biomarkers in prediagnostic and early stages of Huntington disease (HD). Methods: The study sample (n ϭ 215) included individuals both at risk and recently diagnosed with HD. All participants completed a uniform clinical evaluation which included administration of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) by a movement disorder neurologist and molecular testing to determine HD gene status. A high resolution, video-based eye tracking system was employed to quantify measures of eye movement (error rates, latencies, SD of latencies, velocities, and accuracies) during a computerized battery of saccadic and steady fixation tasks. Results: Prediagnostic HD gene carriers and individuals with early HD demonstrated three types of significant abnormalities while performing memory guided and anti-saccade tasks: increased error rate, increased saccade latency, and increased variability of saccade latency. The eye movement abnormalities increased with advancing motor signs of HD. Conclusions: Abnormalities in eye movement measures are a sensitive biomarker in the prediagnostic and early stages of Huntington disease (HD). These measures may be more sensitive to prediagnostic changes in HD than the currently employed neurologic motor assessment. NEUROLOGY 2006;67:394-399 Huntington disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder resulting from an increased number of triplet (CAG) repeats in the huntingtin gene.1 HD is characterized by neuronal loss and gliosis in the striatum with vulnerability in the cortex and other brain regions. Growing evidence supports the concept that the neuronal deterioration is already advanced by the time of clinical diagnosis.2-8 Abnormalities in eye movement are an unequivocal finding in the clinical evaluation of manifest HD. Patients with advanced HD demonstrate a broad range of eye movement abnormalities including impairment of saccades, pursuit, optokinetic response, and fixation.9,10 Prominent abnormalities are also consistently noted in mildly to moderately affected patients, including deficits in the initiation of volitional saccades (elicited by command, without visual target, such as anti-saccade and memory guided saccades) and impairment of steady fixation. [11][12][13] In contrast, studies of eye movements in prediagnostic HD have reported mixed findings, with some showing intact performance 14,15 and others showing deficits. 16,17 Thus, the potential use of eye movement testing as a biomarker in the prediagnosis and early periods of HD remains unclear.In the current study we investigated eye movement measures as a biologic marker for prediagnostic and early stages of diagnosed HD. In a previous study, we assessed eye movement deficits in a small sample of at-risk individuals and found that individuals prediagnostic for HD demonstrated deficits of memory guided saccades. 18 Based on those results, we emphasized measures of volitional saccades in the current battery of tests.Method. Participants...

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Oculomotor control in asymptomatic and recently diagnosed individuals with the genetic marker for Huntington’s disease

Cited by 70 publications

References 20 publications

Frontal Activity during the Digit Symbol Substitution Test Determined by Multichannel Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Frontal Activity during the Digit Symbol Substitution Test Determined by Multichannel Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Ocular motor abnormalities in neurodegenerative disorders

Periodic alternating nystagmus with circumscribed nodular lesion

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