RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OCULOMOTOR FUNCTION, NEURAL AVTIVITY, AND EVENT-RELATED DESYNCHRONIZATION IN INDIVIDUALS WITH MTBI

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Bradley Christopher Kleinert (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: Abstract: \nMild Traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) can lead to vision and visual processing deficits, including decreased visual acuity, visual field impairment, eye movement dysfunction including vergence, saccadic, smooth pursuit movements, and an increase in mental workload during visual tasks. Also, evidence shows a relationship between visual tracking performance and brain activity function. Recent brain activity research (as measured via EEG) have indicated differences between mTBI patients and healthy controls. Specifically, mTBI patients demonstrated decreased alpha activity with a corresponding increase in theta activity and an overall increase in cognitive effort during visual and motor tasks. The purpose of this project was to examine the relationship between brain activity and visual motor deficit in patients with mTBI compared to healthy controls. Our hypothesis was that individuals who have experienced mTBIs within the past year would show changes in alpha desynchronization and perform poorer in visual tracking tasks than healthy participants. We also hypothesized a relationship between EEG desynchronization and visual tracking performance. To test these hypotheses, 26 participants (17 concussed and 9 non-concussed) wore a 32-channel dry EEG cap while completing a series of RightEye visual tracking tasks. Eye movements were recorded using an infrared remote eye tracker while theta and alpha power within spectral analysis were used to indicate changes in brain function. Our results show increased cognitive workload during smooth pursuit and discriminant reaction time tasks for those in the mTBI group. Participants in our study that experienced mTBIs within the past year demonstrated changes in alpha desynchronization and performed poorer in visual tracking tasks than healthy participants. Our results support the idea that mTBIs cause increased cognitive workload in regions of the brain that impact visual acuity.

Additional Information

Publication

Thesis

Language: English

Date: 2023

Subjects

mTBI;concussion;vision

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