A Spatial Decision Eye-Tracking Task in Patients with Prodromal and Mild Alzheimer’s Disease

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Laurens, Brice^{a; b; 1} | Planche, Vincent^{a; b; *; 1} | Cubizolle, Stéphanie^a | Declerck, Léa^a | Dupouy, Sandrine^{a; b} | Formaglio, Maïté^c | Koric, Lejla^d | Seassau, Magali^e | Tilikete, Caroline^c | Vighetto, Alain^c | Ceccaldi, Mathieu^d | Tison, Françcois^{a; b}

Affiliations: [a] Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, UMR 5293, Bordeaux, France | [b] CHU de Bordeaux, Centre Mémoire de Ressources et de Recherches, Pôle de Neurosciences Cliniques, Bordeaux, France | [c] Département de Neurologie cognitive et de Neuro-ophtalmologie, Université Lyon 1 et Hospices Civils de Lyon, Hôpital Neurologique Pierre Wertheimer, Bron, France | [d] Département de Neurologie et de Neuropsychologie, Aix Marseille Université, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Marseille, Marseille, France | [e] CogCharonne, Paris, France

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Vincent Planche, MD, PhD, Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, UMR CNRS 5293, Centre Broca Nouvelle Aquitaine, 146 Rue Leo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. Tel.: +33 533 51 47 19; E-mail: [email protected].

Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Background/Objective:Performances on spatial decision eye-tracking tasks are known to be impaired in patients with moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the clinical relevance of this deficit during earlier stages of AD remains unclear. Methods:This study recruited patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI, prodromal AD), patients with mild AD, and age-matched controls from three French memory clinics. Participants’ ability to make spatial judgments and decisions was assessed with an eye-tracking system, and cognitive performance on conventional neuropsychological tests was evaluated. Results:We enrolled 26 controls, 25 aMCI patients (median Mini-Mental State Exam [MMSE] 26), and 23 mild-AD patients (median MMSE 23). Patients with mild AD had higher error rates on the spatial decision task than aMCI patients and controls (32.4% versus 23.5%; p < 0.01 and 32.4% versus 22.2%; p < 0.05, respectively), but there were no differences among the groups in anticipation rate or the percentage of express saccades. Additionally, error rates on the spatial decision task were inversely correlated with performance on visual memory tests (immediate and delayed recall on the DMS- 48: r =–0.44, p = 0.0019 and r =–0.43, p = 0.0020, respectively), semantic fluency (r =–0.44, p = 0.0016), and global cognition (MMSE: r =–0.44, p = 0.0019). Performance on the spatial decision task was not correlated with anti-saccades, processing speed, or attentional performance. Conclusions:Patients with mild AD made more errors on a spatial decision task than aMCI patients and controls. We hypothesize that impaired visuospatial judgment may explain these results and distinguish aMCI patients from mild AD patients.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, eye-tracking, mild cognitive impairment, spatial decision

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-190549

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 613-621, 2019