scholarly journals Spontaneous eye blink rate and dopamine synthesis capacity: preliminary evidence for an absence of positive correlation

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (9) ◽  
pp. 1081-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Sescousse ◽  
Romain Ligneul ◽  
Ruth J. van Holst ◽  
Lieneke K. Janssen ◽  
Femke de Boer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Eye Blink

scholarly journals Spontaneous eye blink rate and dopamine synthesis capacity: Preliminary evidence for an absence of positive correlation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Sescousse ◽  
Romain Ligneul ◽  
Ruth J. van Holst ◽  
Lieneke K. Janssen ◽  
Femke de Boer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dopamine D2 Receptor ◽  
D2 Receptor ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Region Of Interest ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Eye Blink

AbstractDopamine is central to a number of cognitive functions and brain disorders. Given the cost of neurochemical imaging in humans, behavioral proxy measures of dopamine have gained in popularity in the past decade, such as spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR). Increased sEBR is commonly associated with increased dopamine function based on pharmacological evidence and patient studies. Yet, this hypothesis has not been validated using in vivo measures of dopamine function in humans. In order to fill this gap, we measured sEBR and striatal dopamine synthesis capacity using [18F]DOPA PET in 20 participants (9 healthy individuals and 11 pathological gamblers). Our results, based on frequentist and Bayesian statistics, as well as region-of-interest and voxel-wise analyses, argue against a positive relationship between sEBR and striatal dopamine synthesis capacity. They show that, if anything, the evidence is in favor of a negative relationship. These results, which complement findings from a recent study that failed to observe a relationship between sEBR and dopamine D2 receptor availability, suggest that caution and nuance are warranted when interpreting sEBR in terms of a proxy measure of striatal dopamine.

Staring Down Death

Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 212-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Joiner ◽  
Melanie A. Hom ◽  
Megan L. Rogers ◽  
Carol Chu ◽  
Ian H. Stanley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Specific Task ◽  
Careful Planning ◽  
Eye Blink ◽  
Eye Blinks ◽  
Potential Clinical Utility ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Background: Lowered eye blink rate may be a clinically useful indicator of acute, imminent, and severe suicide risk. Diminished eye blink rates are often seen among individuals engaged in heightened concentration on a specific task that requires careful planning and attention. Indeed, overcoming one’s biological instinct for survival through suicide necessitates premeditation and concentration; thus, a diminished eye blink rate may signal imminent suicidality. Aims: This article aims to spur research and clinical inquiry into the role of eye blinks as an indicator of acute suicide risk. Method: Literature relevant to the potential connection between eye blink rate and suicidality was reviewed and synthesized. Results: Anecdotal, cognitive, neurological, and conceptual support for the relationship between decreased blink rate and suicide risk is outlined. Conclusion: Given that eye blinks are a highly observable behavior, the potential clinical utility of using eye blink rate as a marker of suicide risk is immense. Research is warranted to explore the association between eye blink rate and acute suicide risk.

scholarly journals GABA Supplementation Negatively Affects Cognitive Flexibility Independent of Tyrosine

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1807
Author(s):  
Lee Wei Lim ◽  
Luca Aquili
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Dopamine Synthesis ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Performance Improvements ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
Healthy Participants

Increasing evidence, particularly from animal studies, suggests that dopamine and GABA are important modulators of cognitive flexibility. In humans, increasing dopamine synthesis through its precursor tyrosine has been shown to result in performance improvements, but few studies have reported the effects of GABA supplementation in healthy participants. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized experiment to test the interactive effects of tyrosine and GABA administration on two measures of cognitive flexibility, response inhibition and task switching. A total of 48 healthy volunteers were split into four groups (placebo, tyrosine alone, GABA alone, and tyrosine and GABA combined). They completed cognitive flexibility tasks at baseline and after drug administration. We found that tyrosine alone had no impact on the measures of cognitive flexibility, whereas GABA alone and in combination with tyrosine worsened task switching. Our results provide preliminary evidence that putative increases in GABA and dopamine synthesis do not interact to affect cognitive flexibility performance.

Spontaneous eye blink rate predicts learning from negative, but not positive, outcomes

2015 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 126-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heleen A. Slagter ◽  
Katerina Georgopoulou ◽  
Michael J. Frank
Keyword(s):  
Blink Rate ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Eye Blink

scholarly journals Spontaneous Eye Blink Rate during the Working Memory Delay Period Predicts Task Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jefferson Ortega ◽  
Chelsea Reichert Plaska ◽  
Bernard A Gomes ◽  
Timothy M Ellmore
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Indirect Measure ◽  
Eye Blink ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR) has been found to be a non-invasive indirect measure of striatal dopamine activity. Dopamine (DA) neurons project to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) through the mesocortical dopamine pathway and their activity is implicated in a range of cognitive functions, including attention and working memory (WM). The goal of the present study was to understand how fluctuations in sEBR during different phases of a working memory task relate to task performance. Across two experiments, with recordings of sEBR inside and outside of a magnetic resonance imaging bore, we observed sEBR to be positively correlated with WM performance during the WM delay period. Additionally we investigated the non-linear relationship between sEBR and WM performance, and modeled a proposed Inverted-U-shape relationship between DA and WM performance. We also investigated blink duration, which is proposed to be related to sustained attention, and found blink duration to be significantly shorter during the encoding and probe periods of the task. Taken together, these results provide support towards sEBR as an important correlate of working memory task performance. The relationship of sEBR to DA activity and the influence of DA on the PFC during WM maintenance is discussed.

Automated Quantification of Eye Blink Rate Using VIOLA–JONES Algorithm

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 19-32
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hamdan ◽  
Hisham A. Shehadeh
Keyword(s):  
Excellent Agreement ◽  
Ocular Surface ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Eye Blink ◽  
Automated Quantification ◽  
Statistical Results

In this article, we have proposed a novel tool that helps to objectively quantify eye blink rate. Using the proposed algorithm, a threshold for normal blink rate can be set to test those who have to reduce eye blink rate and are prone to ocular surface dryness. The statistical results show excellent agreement between software-detected number of blinks and visually measured with 90% accuracy for the participants. In addition, the comparison between our tool and other approaches of eye blink monitoring shows that our tool is competitive with only 5% wasted blinks.

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