scholarly journals Understanding Eye Movement Signal Characteristics Based on Their Dynamical and Fractal Features

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Harezlak ◽  
Pawel Kasprowski

Eye movement is one of the biological signals whose exploration may reveal substantial information, enabling greater understanding of the biology of the brain and its mechanisms. In this research, eye movement dynamics were studied in terms of chaotic behavior and self-similarity assessment to provide a description of young, healthy, oculomotor system characteristics. The first of the investigated features is present and advantageous for many biological objects or physiological phenomena, and its vanishing or diminishment may indicate a system pathology. Similarly, exposed self-similarity may prove useful for indicating a young and healthy system characterized by adaptability. For this research, 24 young people with normal vision were involved. Their eye movements were registered with the usage of a head-mounted eye tracker, using infrared oculography, embedded in the sensor, measuring the rotations of the left and the right eye. The influence of the preprocessing step in the form of the application of various filtering methods on the assessment of the final dynamics was also explored. The obtained results confirmed the existence of chaotic behavior in some parts of eye movement signal; however, its strength turned out to be dependent on the filter used. They also exposed the long-range correlation representing self-similarity, although the influence of the applied filters on these outcomes was not unveiled.

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (6) ◽  
pp. 2027-2032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasper H. Fabius ◽  
Alessio Fracasso ◽  
Tanja C. W. Nijboer ◽  
Stefan Van der Stigchel

Humans move their eyes several times per second, yet we perceive the outside world as continuous despite the sudden disruptions created by each eye movement. To date, the mechanism that the brain employs to achieve visual continuity across eye movements remains unclear. While it has been proposed that the oculomotor system quickly updates and informs the visual system about the upcoming eye movement, behavioral studies investigating the time course of this updating suggest the involvement of a slow mechanism, estimated to take more than 500 ms to operate effectively. This is a surprisingly slow estimate, because both the visual system and the oculomotor system process information faster. If spatiotopic updating is indeed this slow, it cannot contribute to perceptual continuity, because it is outside the temporal regime of typical oculomotor behavior. Here, we argue that the behavioral paradigms that have been used previously are suboptimal to measure the speed of spatiotopic updating. In this study, we used a fast gaze-contingent paradigm, using high phi as a continuous stimulus across eye movements. We observed fast spatiotopic updating within 150 ms after stimulus onset. The results suggest the involvement of a fast updating mechanism that predictively influences visual perception after an eye movement. The temporal characteristics of this mechanism are compatible with the rate at which saccadic eye movements are typically observed in natural viewing.


Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Harezlak ◽  
Pawel Kasprowski

The methods for nonlinear time series analysis were used in the presented research to reveal eye movement signal characteristics. Three measures were used: approximate entropy, fuzzy entropy, and the Largest Lyapunov Exponent, for which the multilevel maps (MMs), being their time-scale decomposition, were defined. To check whether the estimated characteristics might be useful in eye movement events detection, these structures were applied in the classification process conducted with the usage of the kNN method. The elements of three MMs were used to define feature vectors for this process. They consisted of differently combined MM segments, belonging either to one or several selected levels, as well as included values either of one or all the analysed measures. Such a classification produced an improvement in the accuracy for saccadic latency and saccade, when compared with the previously conducted studies using eye movement dynamics.


2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 448-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Campos ◽  
Boris Breznen ◽  
Richard A. Andersen

When different stimuli indicate where and when to make an eye movement, the brain areas involved in oculomotor control must selectively plan an eye movement to the stimulus that encodes the target position and also encode the information available from the timing cue. This could pose a challenge to the oculomotor system since the representation of the timing stimulus location in one brain area might be interpreted by downstream neurons as a competing motor plan. Evidence from diverse sources has suggested that the supplementary eye fields (SEF) play an important role in behavioral timing, so we recorded single-unit activity from SEF to characterize how target and timing cues are encoded in this region. Two monkeys performed a variant of the memory-guided saccade task, in which a timing stimulus was presented at a randomly chosen eccentric location. Many spatially tuned SEF neurons encoded only the location of the target and not the timing stimulus, whereas several other SEF neurons encoded the location of the timing stimulus and not the target. The SEF population therefore encoded the location of each stimulus with largely distinct neuronal subpopulations. For comparison, we recorded a small population of lateral intraparietal (LIP) neurons in the same task. We found that most LIP neurons that encoded the location of the target also encoded the location of the timing stimulus after its presentation, but selectively encoded the intended eye movement plan in advance of saccade initiation. These results suggest that SEF, by conditionally encoding the location of instructional stimuli depending on their meaning, can help identify which movement plan represented in other oculomotor structures, such as LIP, should be selected for the next eye movement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 3200
Author(s):  
László Sipos ◽  
Attila Gere ◽  
Zoltán Kókai ◽  
Ákos Nyitrai ◽  
Sándor Kovács ◽  
...  

The contrast sensitivity of normal and anomalous trichromats were examined with Landolt-C figures by eye-tracking system. For the measurements, two series of test images (achromatic and colored) were designed. The difficulty levels of the tests were gradually increased after each right answer. In the case of the observation of the ring of the Landolt-C figures, the variables related to fixation duration, fixation count, visit duration and count significantly affected this subject, success or image parameters, and their interactions. The main questions of this study were as follows: Which statistical method is suitable to model the differences between anomalous and normal trichromats? Which eye-movement variables have a significant effect on the investigated parameters and on their interactions? Is there any significant difference between eye-movement variables of normal and anomalous trichromats? How does the survival time of anomalous and normal trichromats change in the case of achromatic and colored figures? The results showed that the right answers of anomalous and normal trichromats can be described with multiple or cross-classified contingency tables evaluated effectively by loglinear regression. The survival analysis showed that normal trichromats are more successful in interpreting colored images, while anomalous trichromats seemed to be more efficient in perceiving achromatic images.


Author(s):  
M. Sato ◽  
Y. Ogawa ◽  
M. Sasaki ◽  
T. Matsuo

A virgin female of the noctuid moth, a kind of noctuidae that eats cucumis, etc. performs calling at a fixed time of each day, depending on the length of a day. The photoreceptors that induce this calling are located around the neurosecretory cells (NSC) in the central portion of the protocerebrum. Besides, it is considered that the female’s biological clock is located also in the cerebral lobe. In order to elucidate the calling and the function of the biological clock, it is necessary to clarify the basic structure of the brain. The observation results of 12 or 30 day-old noctuid moths showed that their brains are basically composed of an outer and an inner portion-neural lamella (about 2.5 μm) of collagen fibril and perineurium cells. Furthermore, nerve cells surround the cerebral lobes, in which NSCs, mushroom bodies, and central nerve cells, etc. are observed. The NSCs are large-sized (20 to 30 μm dia.) cells, which are located in the pons intercerebralis of the head section and at the rear of the mushroom body (two each on the right and left). Furthermore, the cells were classified into two types: one having many free ribosoms 15 to 20 nm in dia. and the other having granules 150 to 350 nm in dia. (Fig. 1).


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-120
Author(s):  
N.D. Sorokina ◽  
◽  
L.R. Shahalieva ◽  
S.S. Pertsov ◽  
L.V. Polma ◽  
...  

One of the most common causes of chronic pain in the facial region, including in the trigeminal nerve link, which is not associated with dental diseases, is pain dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint. At the same time, there is evidence in the literature that there are relationships between pain dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint, abnormal occlusion, cervical-muscular tonic phenomena, postural disorders, dysfunction of the Autonomous nervous system and cochleovestibular manifestations. At the same time, neurophysiological indicators of functional disorders in the maxillofacial region and intersystem interactions in pain dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint are insufficiently studied.Goal. The aim of the work is to evaluate the neurophysiological features of trigeminal afferentation in terms of trigeminal somatosensory evoked potentials (TSWP) and the auditory conducting system of the brain in terms of acoustic stem evoked potentials (ASVP) in distal occlusion of the dentition with pain dysfunction of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in comparison with physiological occlusion in students 18-21 years old. Material and methods. The main study included 41 students with distal occlusion (21 girls and 20 boys), (grade II Engl, symmetrically right and left in 14 people, and grade II Engl on the left and grade I on the right in 12 people, grade I on the left and grade II on the right in 15 people). All respondents with distal occlusion and who were practically healthy signed an informed consent to participate in the study. We used complex orthodontic methods of examination, subjective degree of severity and intensity of pain in the TMJ, assessment of the Autonomous nervous system (samples and tests), and neurophysiological methods for assessing TSVP and ASVP. Results. Significant differences in ASEP parameters were found in the group of respondents with distal occlusion in the form of a decrease in the latency period of peak I, III, and V compared to physiological occlusion, that correlated with the subjective assessment (in points) of cochleovestibular disorders. According to the TSVP study, a decrease in the duration of latent periods was found, which indicates an increased excitability of non-specific brain stem structures at the medullo-ponto-mesencephalic level compared to the control group. Conclusions. The results obtained are supposed to be used for differential diagnostics, including such dental diseases as TMJ pain dysfunction, occlusion abnormalities accompanied by pain syndrome. Additional functional diagnostics of multi-modal VP of the brain (acoustic evoked potentials, trigeminal evoked potentials) can be performed in conjunction with indicators of autonomic nervous system dysfunction, with parameters of severity of clinical symptoms of cochleovestibular disorders, musculoskeletal dysfunction the maxillofacial area, with indicators of pain, which will determine the tactics and effectiveness of subsequent treatment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii460-iii460
Author(s):  
Mayuko Miyata ◽  
Masahiro Nonaka ◽  
Akio Asai

Abstract BACKGROUND If new lesions are observed during follow-up of the malignant tumor after treatment, it is difficult to distinguish whether the tumor is a recurrent lesion, secondary cancer, or radiation necrosis of the brain. We have encountered a patient with symptomatic radiation necrosis of the cerebellum 16 years after treatment of medulloblastoma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 24-year-old man who had received a tumor resection and chemoradiotherapy for cerebellar medulloblastoma at the age of 8 presented with dizziness. For the past 16 years, there was no recurrence of the tumor. He subsequently underwent MRI scan, and T1-Gd image showed enhanced lesion in the right cerebellar peduncle. Cerebrospinal fluid cytology analysis was negative for tumor. We suspected tumor reccurence or secondary cancer, and performed lesion biopsy. The result of the pathological examination was radiation necrosis of the cerebellum. DISCUSSION: The interval of radiation necrosis of the brain and radiotherapy can vary from months to more than 10 years. So, whenever a new lesion is identified, radiation brain necrosis must be envisioned. According to guidelines in Japan, there is no absolute examination for discriminating tumor recurrence from radiation brain necrosis and diagnosis by biopsy may be required. CONCLUSION We experienced a case of symptomatic radiation necrosis of the cerebellum 16 years after treatment. In patients showing new lesion after long periods of time, the possibility of radiation necrosis to be considered.


1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 561-571
Author(s):  
Gunnar Heuser ◽  
Ismael Mena ◽  
Francisca Alamos

Exposures to neurotoxic chemicals such as pesticides, glues, solvents, etc. are known to induce neurologic and psychiatric symptomatology. We report on 41 patients 16 young patients (6 males, 10 females, age 34 8 yrs.) and 25 elderly patients (9 males, 16 females, age 55 7 yrs). Fifteen of them were exposed to pesticides, and 29 to solvents. They were studied with quantitative and qualitative analysis of regional cerebral bood flow (rCBF), performed with 30 mCi of Xe-133 by inhalation, followed by 30 mCi of Tc-HMPAO given intravenously. Imaging was performed with a brain dedicated system, distribution of rCBF was assessed with automatic ROI definition, and HMPAO was normalized to maximal pixel activity in the brain. Results of Xe rCBF are expressed as mean and S.D. in ml/min/100g, and HMPAO as mean and S.D. uptake per ROI, and compared with age-matched controls 10 young and 20 elderly individuals. Neurotoxics HMPAO Uptake Young Elderly R. Orbital frontal R. Dorsal frontal .70 .66 p < 0.05 R. Temporal .64 p < 0.001 R. Parietal .66 .66 We conclude that patients exposed to chemicals present with diminished CBF, worse in the right hemisphere, with random presentation of areas of hypoperfusion, more prevalent in the dorsal frontal and parietal lobes. These findings are significantly different from observations in patients with chronic fatigue and depression, suggesting primary cortical effect, possibly due to a vasculitis process.


Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Chong-Bin Tsai ◽  
Wei-Yu Hung ◽  
Wei-Yen Hsu

Optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) is an involuntary eye movement induced by motion of a large proportion of the visual field. It consists of a “slow phase (SP)” with eye movements in the same direction as the movement of the pattern and a “fast phase (FP)” with saccadic eye movements in the opposite direction. Study of OKN can reveal valuable information in ophthalmology, neurology and psychology. However, the current commercially available high-resolution and research-grade eye tracker is usually expensive. Methods & Results: We developed a novel fast and effective system combined with a low-cost eye tracking device to accurately quantitatively measure OKN eye movement. Conclusions: The experimental results indicate that the proposed method achieves fast and promising results in comparisons with several traditional approaches.


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