TY - JOUR
T1 - An eye-tracker controlled cognitive battery
T2 - overcoming verbal-motor limitations in ALS
AU - Poletti, Barbara
AU - Carelli, Laura
AU - Solca, Federica
AU - Lafronza, Annalisa
AU - Pedroli, Elisa
AU - Faini, Andrea
AU - Ticozzi, Nicola
AU - Ciammola, Andrea
AU - Meriggi, Paolo
AU - Cipresso, Pietro
AU - Lulé, Dorothée
AU - Ludolph, Albert C.
AU - Riva, Giuseppe
AU - Silani, Vincenzo
PY - 2017/6
Y1 - 2017/6
N2 - We assessed language, attention, executive, and social cognition abilities in a sample of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) by means of a recently developed cognitive battery based on oculomotor control with eye-tracking (ET) technology. Twenty-one ALS patients and 21 age- and education-matched healthy subjects underwent the ET-based cognitive assessment, together with the standard cognitive screening tools [Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB); Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA); and Digit Sequencing Task]. Psychological measures of anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory) were also collected, and an ET usability questionnaire was administered. For patients, clinical and respiratory examinations were also performed, together with behavioural assessment (Frontal Behavioural Inventory). The developed battery discriminated among patients and controls with regard to measures of verbal fluency, frontal abilities, and social cognition. Measures of diagnostic utility confirmed a higher diagnostic accuracy of such ET-based tests with respect to FAB; similar diagnostic accuracy emerged when comparing them to the other standard cognitive tools (MoCA, WM). Usability ratings about the ET tests were comparable among the two groups. The ET-based neuropsychological battery demonstrated good levels of diagnostic accuracy and usability in a clinical population of non-demented ALS patients, compared to matched healthy controls. Future studies will be aimed at further investigate validity and usability components by recruiting larger sample of patients, both in moderate-to-severe stages of the disease and affected by more severe cognitive impairment.
AB - We assessed language, attention, executive, and social cognition abilities in a sample of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) by means of a recently developed cognitive battery based on oculomotor control with eye-tracking (ET) technology. Twenty-one ALS patients and 21 age- and education-matched healthy subjects underwent the ET-based cognitive assessment, together with the standard cognitive screening tools [Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB); Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA); and Digit Sequencing Task]. Psychological measures of anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Y) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory) were also collected, and an ET usability questionnaire was administered. For patients, clinical and respiratory examinations were also performed, together with behavioural assessment (Frontal Behavioural Inventory). The developed battery discriminated among patients and controls with regard to measures of verbal fluency, frontal abilities, and social cognition. Measures of diagnostic utility confirmed a higher diagnostic accuracy of such ET-based tests with respect to FAB; similar diagnostic accuracy emerged when comparing them to the other standard cognitive tools (MoCA, WM). Usability ratings about the ET tests were comparable among the two groups. The ET-based neuropsychological battery demonstrated good levels of diagnostic accuracy and usability in a clinical population of non-demented ALS patients, compared to matched healthy controls. Future studies will be aimed at further investigate validity and usability components by recruiting larger sample of patients, both in moderate-to-severe stages of the disease and affected by more severe cognitive impairment.
KW - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
KW - Behavioural assessment
KW - Cognitive assessment
KW - Eye tracker
KW - Oculomotor control
KW - Verbal-motor limitations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85019245752&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85019245752&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00415-017-8506-z
DO - 10.1007/s00415-017-8506-z
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85019245752
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Journal of Neurology
JF - Journal of Neurology
SN - 0340-5354
ER -