Abstract Details

Title Saccadic Eye Movements: A Glimpse into Cognitive Impairment

Topic Aging, Dementia, and Behavioral Neurology

Presentation(s) P2 - Poster Session 2 (5:30 PM-6:30 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 9-027

Objective The aim of this research was to compare the King-Devick (K-D) test to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) in its capacity to test cognitive ability and the progression of Parkinson’s Disease (PD).

Background PD is a disorder of the basal ganglia in which dopaminergic cells are depleted causing bradykinesia, tremor, rigidity, and postural instability. Just as limb movement has slowed, individuals with PD show an impaired ability to generate voluntary rapid eye movements. This dysfunction of saccadic eye movements may be directly correlated with the severity of clinical symptoms and cognitive deficits. Therefore, the examination of eye movement control may act as a surrogate measure for additional dysfunction in cognitive and executive networks. In this study, we tested saccadic eye movement with the K-D test.

Design/Methods We recruited 18 people with PD and 19 matched healthy controls (HC). All participants completed the following: K-D, MoCA, and SDMT. Analysis of variance was run to compare the two groups on demographics and cognitive measures. Pearson correlation was run to measure the relationships between K-D and MoCA and SDMT.

Results The groups did not differ on demographics. HC performed significantly better than PD on K-D, MoCA, and SDMT (F=7.3; 20.1; 22.4 respectively, p<0.01). In the PD groups, we found a significant correlation between K-D and MoCA (r=-0.538, p=0.02) and K-D and SDMT (r=-0.731, p=0.001). Better performance on K-D equals better performance on the other tests. There were no significant correlation between K-D and MoCA or SDMT in HC.

Conclusions The K-D may detect cognitive impairment in PD since there appears to be a link between saccadic eye movements and performance on cognitive tests. We will follow these participants over the course of the next 5 years to determine if the K-D test has predictive value for future decline.

Authors/Disclosures
PRESENTER	No disclosure on file
Brian J. Copeland, MD (LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans)	Dr. Copeland has received personal compensation in the range of $5,000-$9,999 for serving on a Speakers Bureau for Teva Neurosciences. The institution of Dr. Copeland has received research support from Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals.
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
Jesus Lovera, MD (LSUHSC-New Orleans)	Dr. Lovera has nothing to disclose.
Deidre J. Devier, PhD	No disclosure on file

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