Marco
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There was a short news report on this on the Beeb yesterday which reminded me of previous findings.
Impairments in eye movements are found after concussion and may provide a quicker and more reliable diagnosis. Specifically this test measures impairments in something called 'smooth pursuit' - the ability to accurately track a moving target :
Taking the guesswork out of diagnosing a concussion
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/15/taking-the-guesswork-out-of-diagnosing-a-concussion.html
Normally these and other symptoms resolve within a few weeks of the concussion. But in the case of Post-Concussion Syndrome, symptoms (which include fatigue, cognitive problems plus exacerbation of symptoms with exercise and alcohol intolerance to name a few) persist for months or years leading some to suspect that psychological factors intervence.
These objective eye movement impairments also persist though leading researchers to conclude that "Poorer subconscious oculomotor function in the PCS group supports the notion that PCS is not merely a psychological entity, but also has a biological substrate." :
Impaired eye movements in post-concussion syndrome indicate suboptimal brain function beyond the influence of depression, malingering or intellectual ability
(bolding added)
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/132/10/2850
Interesting that similar problems have been found in ME/CFS :
Characterising eye movement dysfunction in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.
(bolding added)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23918092
Do these ME/CFS findings also 'indicate suboptimal brain function beyond the influence of depression, malingering or intellectual ability' ?
Impairments in eye movements are found after concussion and may provide a quicker and more reliable diagnosis. Specifically this test measures impairments in something called 'smooth pursuit' - the ability to accurately track a moving target :
Taking the guesswork out of diagnosing a concussion
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/15/taking-the-guesswork-out-of-diagnosing-a-concussion.html
Normally these and other symptoms resolve within a few weeks of the concussion. But in the case of Post-Concussion Syndrome, symptoms (which include fatigue, cognitive problems plus exacerbation of symptoms with exercise and alcohol intolerance to name a few) persist for months or years leading some to suspect that psychological factors intervence.
These objective eye movement impairments also persist though leading researchers to conclude that "Poorer subconscious oculomotor function in the PCS group supports the notion that PCS is not merely a psychological entity, but also has a biological substrate." :
Impaired eye movements in post-concussion syndrome indicate suboptimal brain function beyond the influence of depression, malingering or intellectual ability
The PCS group performed worse on anti-saccades, self-paced saccades, memory-guided sequences and smooth pursuit, suggesting problems in response inhibition, short-term spatial memory, motor-sequence programming, visuospatial processing and visual attention. This poorer oculomotor performance included several measures beyond conscious control, indicating that subcortical functionality in the PCS group was poorer than expected after mCHI. The PCS group had poorer neuropsychological function (memory, complex attention and executive function).
(bolding added)
http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/132/10/2850
Interesting that similar problems have been found in ME/CFS :
Characterising eye movement dysfunction in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.
Patients showed relatively intact ability to accurately fixate the target (prosaccades), but were impaired when required to focus accurately in a specific position opposite the target (antisaccades). Patients were most markedly impaired when required to direct their gaze as closely as possible to a smoothly moving target (smooth pursuit).
(bolding added)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23918092
Do these ME/CFS findings also 'indicate suboptimal brain function beyond the influence of depression, malingering or intellectual ability' ?