Peerj: eye movement can predict brain aging

January 21, 2020 / biourn / -- a new study published in peerj shows how researchers at the University of Liverpool use newly developed eye movement tests to improve understanding of how parts of the brain work It is reported that healthy elderly people will have cognitive decline, including the ability to inhibit control (the ability to stop thinking or doing things) However, because the effect of aging on the ability of inhibition and control varies greatly among individuals and depends on the tests used, this general view remains controversial (image source: www Pixabay Com) in schizophrenia, ADHD and Parkinson's disease, inhibition control is also important Patients may be distracted or have unexpected problems Researchers in the Department of eye and Visual Sciences, led by Dr Paul Knox, have developed a new test that uses eye movement measurements to provide an improved method of inhibition control research and has been used to study the effect of aging on this function In this study, the authors recruited two healthy people from two different age groups (19-27 and 50-72) Participants saw a point on the screen in the center of the computer, and then looked at the second point that appeared on the left or right side of the screen When people instinctively watch things appear, it needs to inhibit the normal automatic eye movement The author used infrared eye tracker to measure the eye movement accurately and revealed the frequency of eye movement appearing prematurely The results showed that older participants were more likely to observe the point when it appeared, rather than when it disappeared, and were slower than younger participants Dr Paul Knox said: "our design is to respond to things that appear in the visual world This is what we do automatically But we also have the ability to prevent ourselves from responding, which prevents us from becoming slaves to our sensory environment This new test enables us to accurately measure inhibition control behavior It's clear that even though we've taken into account the overall slowdown that occurs with age, it's more difficult for older participants to suppress their behavior "This result confirms that the decline in inhibitory control is part of normal aging We are doing experiments to refine the tests, and then we hope to use them to study their role in a range of important diseases " Source of information: study uses eye movement test to confirm brain aging effects original source: Paul C Knox, nikitha pasunu Age related alternations in investment control investigated using the minimal delayed oculomotor response task Peerj, 2020; 8: e8401 doi: 10.7717/peerj.8401