Name: using eye movements to evaluate the cognitive processes involved in text comprehension
Uploaded: 2014-01-10T13:45:00
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Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Using Eye Movements to Evaluate the Cognitive Processes Involved in Text Comprehension at JoVE.com

We wish to thank everyone who has participated in research conducted in the Language Research Lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago. We also thank Frances Daniel, who was instrumental in helping to develop the programs used to collect the data presented here.

<ol>
	<li>Ashby, J., Rayner, K., Clifton, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Eye+movements+of+highly+skilled+and+average+readers:+Differential+effects+of+frequency+and+predictability.">Eye movements of highly skilled and average readers: Differential effects of frequency and predictability.</a> Q. J. Exp. Psychol.. 58A, 1065-1086 (2005).</li><li>Binder, K. S., Morris, R. K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=An+eye-movement+analysis+of+ambiguity+resolution:+Beyond+meaning+access.">An eye-movement analysis of ambiguity resolution: Beyond meaning access.</a> Discourse Processes. 48, 305-330 (2011).</li><li>Bowdle, B., Gentner, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+career+of+metaphor.">The career of metaphor.</a> Psychol. Rev. 112, 193-216 (2005).</li><li>Campbell, S. J., Raney, G. E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Life+Is+A+Pencil:+Using+Eye+Tracking+to+Explore+Metaphor+Processing.">Life Is A Pencil: Using Eye Tracking to Explore Metaphor Processing.</a> , (2011).</li><li>Dr&#232;ze, X., Hussherr, F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Internet+advertising:+Is+anybody+watching.">Internet advertising: Is anybody watching.</a> J. Interact. Marketing. 17, 8-23 (2003).</li><li>Glucksberg, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+psycholinguistics+of+metaphor.">The psycholinguistics of metaphor.</a> TRENDS Cogn. Sci. 7, 92-96 (2003).</li><li>Juhasz, B. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+processing+of+compound+words+in+English:+Effects+of+word+length+on+eye+movements+during+reading.">The processing of compound words in English: Effects of word length on eye movements during reading.</a> Lang. Cogn. Process. 23, 1057-1088 (2008).</li><li>Lohse, G. L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Consumer+Eye+movement+patterns+on+yellow+pages+advertising.">Consumer Eye movement patterns on yellow pages advertising.</a> J. Advert. 26, 61-73 (1997).</li><li>Kaakinen, J. K., Hyn, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Perspective+effects+in+repeated+reading:+An+eye+movement+study.">Perspective effects in repeated reading: An eye movement study.</a> Mem. Cogn. 35, 1323-1336 (2007).</li><li>Raney, G. E., Rayner, K. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Word+frequency+effects+and+eye+movements+during+two+readings+of+a+text.">Word frequency effects and eye movements during two readings of a text.</a> Can. J. Exp. Psychol. 49, 151-172 (1995).</li><li>Rayner, K., Raney, G. E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Eye+movement+control+in+reading+and+visual+search:+Effects+of+word+frequency.">Eye movement control in reading and visual search: Effects of word frequency.</a> Psychonomic Bull. Rev. 3, 245-248 (1996).</li><li>Rayner, K., Raney, G. E., Pollatsek, A., Lorch, R. F., O'Brien, E. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> Ch. 1. Eye movements and discourse processing. , 9-36 (1995).</li><li>Rayner, K., Pollatsek, A., Ashby, J., Clifton, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=.">.</a> Ch. 4. Psychology of Reading.. , 91-134 (2012).</li><li>Rayner, K., Reichle, E. D., Stroud, M. J., Williams, C. C., Pollatsek, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+effect+of+word+frequency,+word+predictability,+and+font+difficulty+on+the+eye+movements+of+young+and+older+readers.">The effect of word frequency, word predictability, and font difficulty on the eye movements of young and older readers.</a> Psychol. Aging. 21, 448-465 (2006).</li><li>Yang, G. Z., Dempere-Marco, L., Hu, X. P., Rowe, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Visual+search:+Psychophysical+models+and+practical+applications.">Visual search: Psychophysical models and practical applications.</a> Image Vis. Comput. 20, 291-305 (2002).</li></ol>

No conflicts of interest exist. The authors have no financial interests in the manufacturers of the equipment described here.

Advances in technology have led to the availability of highly accurate, reliable, and easy-to-use eye tracking systems. In the field of language research, monitoring eye movements allows researchers to determine how readers evaluate a text. Fixation patterns can be used to determine what parts of a text are most difficult to process or are easiest to process, what parts of a text can be understood with a single fixation and what parts require multiple fixations or regressions, and the sequence in which readers process the text. Together, these measures support conclusions about the cognitive processes involved in text comprehension.
Comprehension is based on an interaction between the information contained in a text and the cognitive skills and knowledge applied by the reader; therefore, a complete understanding of text comprehension can only be obtained by using a measure of processing that is sensitive to properties of the text and characteristics of the reader. As noted previously, eye movements vary based on linguistic features, such as word frequency, word length, and sentence complexity1,2,7,10,11, and reader characteristics, such as reading ability and topic knowledge1,9. As such, eye movements provide an ideal measure of text comprehension.
Because eye movements vary based on many linguistic features, precise control of stimuli is essential when studying the cognitive processes involved in text comprehension. Researchers often expend as much effort to develop controlled stimuli as is needed to conduct the actual experiment. Indeed, the research is only as good as the stimuli.
Eye tracking methodologies can provide valuable data for any field of research in which participants are shown visual stimuli and are required to evaluate the stimuli. For example, in the field of advertising, one could determine what parts of a visual ad attract the most attention by measuring what parts of the ad people look at the most5,8. In medical research, one could determine whether interns and experienced physicians evaluate an X-Ray or MRI image in the same manner by looking at the eye movement scan path and how much time is spent evaluating critical physical structures15. In these examples the pattern of eye movements indicates what parts of the image attract the attention of the person viewing the image.

When readers read a text, they move their eyes from word to word through an alternating pattern of fixations (points at which the eyes are stationary and focused on a word) and saccades (points at which the eye are moving between words). Fixations following saccades that move the reader forward through a text are called forward fixations and fixations following saccades that move the reader to prior points in a text are called regressive fixations. The basic assumption of eye tracking methods is that increased processing demands are associated with increased processing time or changes in the pattern of fixations. Increased processing time may be reflected by longer duration fixations or a larger number of fixations (forward and regressive).
Eye movements provide several important advantages as a measure of reading behavior relative to measuring reading times for an entire passage or sentence-by-sentence reading times. First, monitoring eye movements produces a continuous, online record of reading performance. This provides the ability to examine text processing demands at a global level (across an entire text), the sentence level (individual sentences), or the local level (individual words or phrases). For example, changes in global difficulty lead to changes in several measures of performance, such as total reading time, number of forward fixations, and the number of regressions. Changes in local level difficulty also affects several measures, such as reading times for individual words, the probability of fixating words, and likelihood of making regressions to specific words. Overall reading times or sentence-by-sentence reading times do not provide such detailed measures of reading performance. Second, eye movements are a natural part of reading; therefore, no additional task demands are placed on a reader. Third, multiple aspects of eye movements may be analyzed (e.g.&#160;fixation duration, saccade length, and regression frequency), providing a window into different elements of the reading process. Fourth, eye movements directly reflect processing demands associated with features of the text being read. For example, eye movements vary as a function of word frequency10,11, word length7, lexical ambiguity2, contextual constraint1, and repetition10,13. Fifth, eye movements reflect individual differences in readers. For example, eye movements vary based on reading ability1, prior knowledge about a topic9, and age of the reader14. Rayner, Pollatsek, Ashby, and Clifton13 provide a thorough review of eye movements during reading. Taken together, these advantages make eye movements an ideal measure of reading behavior.
The research described here used an eye movement methodology to study the cognitive processes involved in text comprehension. Specifically, the experiment was designed to explore how familiar and unfamiliar metaphors are processed4. In this study, participants read short texts presented on a computer monitor while their eye movements were monitored. Each text contained four sentences. The first two sentences provided a context that was consistent with the intended meaning of the metaphor. The metaphors were presented in the third sentence. The fourth sentence served as a neutral conclusion. Examples of texts containing familiar (1) and unfamiliar (2) metaphors are presented below with the metaphors underlined for ease of identification.
<ol>
	<li>Familiar metaphor passage. Peter had never seen such a beautiful girl before. He really hoped that something special would grow between the two of them. He thought to himself that love is a flower. Peter called the girl later that night.</li>
	<li>Unfamiliar metaphor passage. Graduating from college is a very important milestone for many people. It takes a lot of hard work to reach this goal. For many people a degree is a doorway. Graduating from college is something to be very proud of.</li>
</ol>
Past research based on a variety of methods has shown that familiar metaphors are easier to understand (processed faster) than unfamiliar metaphors3,6. The power of the eye tracking method is that the source of processing difficulty can be isolated to specific words. For example, researchers can determine if the extra time needed to comprehend unfamiliar metaphors is obtained by slowing down when reading each word in the metaphors, or slowing down on the last words of the metaphor (when it is clear the prior phrase is a metaphor). Furthermore, patterns of eye movements support inferences about the cognitive processes involved in comprehending the metaphors. For example, when reading novel or unfamiliar metaphors, readers would need to further process the metaphors to extract the figurative meanings. This might be reflected in the eye movement pattern as regressing to the start of the metaphors and then reading through the metaphors a second time. Readers also might try to compare the meanings of the two key words in the metaphors (e.g.&#160;love and flower), which could lead to a pattern of back and forth eye movements between the key words. Alternatively, when reading familiar metaphors, the readers might extract the figurative meanings immediately upon reading the metaphors; therefore, no regressions would be needed. The key point is that eye movement patterns allow researchers to make inferences about the online processes used to comprehend the metaphors. This supports more descriptive conclusions than simply stating that overall processing time is longer for unfamiliar than familiar metaphors.
The study described here illustrates a common method of contrasting eye movement patterns for two types of written stimuli and provides a concrete situation for describing critical aspects of eye movement methodologies. Importantly, the eye movement method described here can be generalized to study many other issues, such as how readers solve word-based math problems that vary in complexity (e.g.&#160;high versus low complexity), or how word problems are solved by domain experts versus novices. Eye movements could be used to determine which words in the problems attract the most attention (i.e.&#160;longest fixation durations and the largest number of fixations) and whether experts and novices focus on the same information. In each case, monitoring eye movements would provide a record of the moment-by-moment changes in processing demands associated with comprehending the problems being read.

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			<td height="61" style="height:61px;width:165px;">Eye Tracker</td>
			<td style="width:165px;">SR Research Ltd.</td>
			<td style="width:165px;">EyeLink 1000 Remote Desktop model</td>
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			<td height="41" style="height:41px;width:165px;">Experiment Control Software</td>
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			<td height="41" style="height:41px;width:165px;">Eye Movement Evaluation Software</td>
			<td style="width:165px;">SR Research Ltd.</td>
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using eye movements to evaluate the cognitive processes involved in text comprehension

The present article describes how to use eye tracking methodologies to study the cognitive processes involved in text comprehension. Measuring eye movements during reading is one of the most precise methods for measuring moment-by-moment (online) processing demands during text comprehension. Cognitive processing demands are reflected by several aspects of eye movement behavior, such as fixation duration, number of fixations, and number of regressions (returning to prior parts of a text). Important properties of eye tracking equipment that researchers need to consider are described, including how frequently the eye position is measured (sampling rate), accuracy of determining eye position, how much head movement is allowed, and ease of use. Also described are properties of stimuli that influence eye movements that need to be controlled in studies of text comprehension, such as the position, frequency, and length of target words. Procedural recommendations related to preparing the participant, setting up and calibrating the equipment, and running a study are given. Representative results are presented to illustrate how data can be evaluated. Although the methodology is described in terms of reading comprehension, much of the information presented can be applied to any study in which participants read verbal stimuli.

Multiple aspects of eye movements may be analyzed, and these are often categorized as global and local measures. Global measures reflect eye movement behavior across an entire trial, such as overall reading time, the average fixation duration for all words, and the total number of fixations (both forward and regressive). Local measures reflect eye movement behavior for a specific target word or set of target words (such as words in the metaphors) and are referred to as regions of interest. Local measures include fixation times for target words, the probability of fixating target words, the number of fixations on target words, and the number of regressions to target words, to name a few. In addition, local measures are often discussed in terms of first run, second run, and total time. First run (also called first pass) refers to fixations made on a target word before moving to another word. This can be thought of as the first encounter with the target word. Second run (also called second pass) refers to fixations made on a target word after having left the target word initially. These are generally regressions to the target words. Total time includes all fixations made on the target words (all runs combined). More complex measures are also used to evaluate processing time and eye movement patterns, such as regression path duration, which is defined as the total time from initially encountering a word to moving to the subsequent word. For example, if a reader (1) fixated the last word in a metaphor, (2) returned to fixate the first word in the metaphor, (3) fixated at the last word again, and then (4) fixated the first word in the next sentence, the regression path duration would include the first three fixations in this example.
Eye movements from a sample trial are presented in Figure 2. The circles represent fixation locations and the yellow lines represent saccades, which show how the reader moved from word to word. The extra processing difficulty associated with the metaphor can be seen by the density of fixations on the metaphor. The fixations can be grouped by regions of interest (e.g.&#160;words in the metaphors) to determine how much time was spent on each word and the number of fixations made on each word for familiar and unfamiliar metaphors. The results shown in Figure 3 demonstrate that more time was spent processing the two key content words in unfamiliar metaphors than in familiar metaphors.
The advantages of recording eye movements as opposed to reading times for an entire passage or sentence-by-sentence reading times can be seen in Figures 2 and 3. For example, there are five fixations on the metaphor region (Figure 2), three forward fixations and two regressive fixations, which reflect the reader reading through the metaphor to &#34;doorway&#34; and then returning (regressing) to &#34;degree.&#34; In essence, the metaphor was read twice. This outcome would go unnoticed if only sentence reading times or overall reading times were measured. As a second example, Figure 3 shows that more time was spent reading the last word of the metaphor than the other three words in the metaphor, and that reading time was faster for familiar than unfamiliar metaphors for three of the four words in the metaphors. Measuring sentence-by-sentence reading times would indicate longer reading times for sentences containing familiar metaphors than unfamiliar metaphors, but it would be impossible to know if the extra reading time was distributed across all words in the metaphor or was confined to specific words, and how much time was spent on each word would be unknown. These two examples show the benefit of recording continuous, online reading behavior.
<img alt="Figure 1" fo:content-width="5in" fo:src="/files/ftp_upload/50780/50780fig1highres.jpg" src="/files/ftp_upload/50780/50780fig1.jpg" /> 
Figure 1. The left picture shows a participant positioned on the forehead/chin rest while looking at a computer display. The infrared light source and video camera are located beneath the display. The right picture shows the experimenter&#39;s display. The large image in the top frame shows the participant&#39;s face around the right eye (the eye being tracked) and the small image shows a close up of the right eye. The blue areas are areas of high infrared light reflection from the participant&#39;s hair (large image) and pupil (small image). The cross hairs over the eye identify the center of the pupil and the corneal reflection near the bottom of the pupil. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/50780/50780fig1highres.jpg" target="_blank">Click here to view larger image.</a>
<img alt="Figure 3" fo:content-width="5in" fo:src="/files/ftp_upload/50780/50780fig3highres.jpg" src="/files/ftp_upload/50780/50780fig3.jpg" /> 
Figure 2. Eye movements from a sample passage containing an unfamiliar metaphor (a degree is a doorway). The circles indicate fixation locations and the yellow lines indicate saccade paths. Larger circles represent longer duration fixations. The small numbers next to the circles indicate fixation duration in milliseconds (msec). Gaps (no saccade line, such as between the words many people) indicate points where a track loss occurred due to an artifact such as subjects momentarily closing their eyes. The figure shows a regression from doorway to degree within the metaphor.
<img alt="Figure 2" fo:content-width="5in" fo:src="/files/ftp_upload/50780/50780fig2highres.jpg" src="/files/ftp_upload/50780/50780fig2.jpg" /> 
Figure 3. Total fixation duration (msec) on words in familiar and unfamiliar metaphors. The words in the horizontal axis correspond to the sample familiar (F) and unfamiliar (U) metaphors. The data represent an average across 10 familiar and 10 unfamiliar metaphors.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Using Eye Movements to Evaluate the Cognitive Processes Involved in Text Comprehension at JoVE.com

Using Eye Movements to Evaluate the Cognitive Processes Involved in Text Comprehension

The present article describes how to use eye tracking methodologies to study the cognitive processes involved in text comprehension. Descriptions of eye tracking equipment, how to develop experimental stimuli, and procedural recommendations are included. The information presented can be applied to most any study using verbal stimuli.

The present article describes how to use eye  tracking methodologies to study the cognitive processes involved in text  comprehension. Measuring eye ...

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Research

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Behavior

The Crossmodal Congruency Task as a Means to Obtain an Objective Behavioral Measure in the Rubber Hand Illusion Paradigm

The rubber hand illusion (RHI) is a popular experimental paradigm. Participants view touch on an artificial rubber hand while the participants' own hidden hand is touched. If the viewed and felt touches are given at the same time then this is sufficient to induce the compelling experience that the rubber hand is one's own hand. The RHI can be used to investigate exactly how the brain constructs distinct body representations for one's own body. Such representations are crucial for successful interactions with the external world. To obtain a subjective measure of the RHI, researchers typically ask participants to rate statements such as "I felt as if the rubber hand were my hand". Here we demonstrate how the crossmodal congruency task can be used to obtain an objective behavioral measure within this paradigm.
The variant of the crossmodal congruency task we employ involves the presentation of tactile targets and visual distractors. Targets and distractors are spatially congruent (i.e. same finger) on some trials and incongruent (i.e. different finger) on others. The difference in performance between incongruent and congruent trials - the crossmodal congruency effect (CCE) - indexes multisensory interactions. Importantly, the CCE is modulated both by viewing a hand as well as the synchrony of viewed and felt touch which are both crucial factors for the RHI.
The use of the crossmodal congruency task within the RHI paradigm has several advantages. It is a simple behavioral measure which can be repeated many times and which can be obtained during the illusion while participants view the artificial hand. Furthermore, this measure is not susceptible to observer and experimenter biases. The combination of the RHI paradigm with the crossmodal congruency task allows in particular for the investigation of multisensory processes which are critical for modulations of body representations as in the RHI.

We demonstrate how an objective measure can be employed in the widely employed rubber hand illusion paradigm. This measure is obtained by modifying the well-established crossmodal congruency task. This task allows the investigation of multisensory processes which are critical for modulations of body representations as in the rubber hand illusion.

The rubber hand illusion (RHI) is a popular experimental paradigm. Participants view touch on an artificial rubber hand while the participants' own hidden ...

Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior

Kinesthetic awareness is important to successfully navigate the environment. When we interact with our daily surroundings, some aspects of movement are deliberately planned, while others spontaneously occur below conscious awareness. The deliberate component of this dichotomy has been studied extensively in several contexts, while the spontaneous component remains largely under-explored. Moreover, how perceptual processes modulate these movement classes is still unclear. In particular, a currently debated issue is whether the visuomotor system is governed by the spatial percept produced by a visual illusion or whether it is not affected by the illusion and is governed instead by the veridical percept. Bistable percepts such as 3D depth inversion illusions (DIIs) provide an excellent context to study such interactions and balance, particularly when used in combination with reach-to-grasp movements. In this study, a methodology is developed that uses a DII to clarify the role of top-down processes on motor action, particularly exploring how reaches toward a target on a DII are affected in both deliberate and spontaneous movement domains.

It is unclear how top-down signals from the ventral visual stream affect movement. We developed a paradigm to test motor behavior towards a target on a 3D depth inversion illusion. Significant differences are reported in both deliberate, goal-directed movements and automatic actions under illusory and veridical viewing conditions.

Kinesthetic awareness is important to successfully navigate the environment. When we interact with our daily surroundings, some aspects of movement are ...

Uncovering Beat Deafness: Detecting Rhythm Disorders with Synchronized Finger Tapping and Perceptual Timing Tasks

A set of behavioral tasks for assessing perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities in the general population (i.e., non-musicians) is presented here with the goal of uncovering rhythm disorders, such as beat deafness. Beat deafness is characterized by poor performance in perceiving durations in auditory rhythmic patterns or poor synchronization of movement with auditory rhythms (e.g., with musical beats). These tasks include the synchronization of finger tapping to the beat of simple and complex auditory stimuli and the detection of rhythmic irregularities (anisochrony detection task) embedded in the same stimuli. These tests, which are easy to administer, include an assessment of both perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities under different conditions (e.g., beat rates and types of auditory material) and are based on the same auditory stimuli, ranging from a simple metronome to a complex musical excerpt. The analysis of synchronized tapping data is performed with circular statistics, which provide reliable measures of synchronization accuracy (e.g., the difference between the timing of the taps and the timing of the pacing stimuli) and consistency. Circular statistics on tapping data are particularly well-suited for detecting individual differences in the general population. Synchronized tapping and anisochrony detection are sensitive measures for identifying profiles of rhythm disorders and have been used with success to uncover cases of poor synchronization with spared perceptual timing. This systematic assessment of perceptual and sensorimotor timing can be extended to populations of patients with brain damage, neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson&#8217;s disease), and developmental disorders (e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

Behavioral tasks that allow for the assessment of perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities in the general population (i.e., non-musicians) are presented. Synchronization of finger tapping to the beat of an auditory stimuli and detecting rhythmic irregularities provides a means of uncovering rhythm disorders.

A set of behavioral tasks for assessing perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities in the general population (i.e., non-musicians) is presented here ...

Event-related Potentials During Target-response Tasks to Study Cognitive Processes of Upper Limb Use in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy

Unilateral Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is a very common cause of disability in childhood. It is characterized by unilateral motor impairments that are frequently dominated in the upper limb. In addition to a reduced movement capacity of the affected upper limb, several children with unilateral CP show a reduced awareness of the remaining movement capacity of that limb. This phenomenon of disregarding the preserved capacity of the affected upper limb is regularly referred to as Developmental Disregard (DD). Different theories have been postulated to explain DD, each suggesting slightly different guidelines for therapy. Still, cognitive processes that might additionally contribute to DD in children with unilateral CP have never been directly studied. The current protocol was developed to study cognitive aspects involved in upper limb control in children with unilateral CP with and without DD. This was done by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) extracted from the ongoing EEG during target-response tasks asking for a hand-movement response. ERPs consist of several components, each of them associated with a well-defined cognitive process (e.g., the N1 with early attention processes, the N2 with cognitive control and the P3 with cognitive load and mental effort). Due to its excellent temporal resolution, the ERP technique enables to study several covert cognitive processes preceding overt motor responses and thus allows insight into the cognitive processes that might contribute to the phenomenon of DD. Using this protocol adds a new level of explanation to existing behavioral studies and opens new avenues to the broader implementation of research on cognitive aspects of developmental movement restrictions in children.

Several children with unilateral Cerebral Palsy seem to disregard the preserved capacity of their affected upper limb. This Developmental Disregard is extensively described in the literature but the involved cognitive processes have not been studied. To study underlying cognitive factors of upper limb control, an event-related potential protocol was developed.

Unilateral Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is a very common cause of disability in childhood. It is characterized by unilateral ...

Recording Mouse Ultrasonic Vocalizations to Evaluate Social Communication

Mice emit ultrasonic vocalizations in different contexts throughout development and in adulthood. These vocal signals are now currently used as proxies for modeling the genetic bases of vocal communication deficits. Characterizing the vocal behavior of mouse models carrying mutations in genes associated with neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism spectrum disorders will help to understand the mechanisms leading to social communication deficits. We provide here protocols to reliably elicit ultrasonic vocalizations in pups and in adult mice. This standardization will help reduce inter-study variability due to the experimental settings. Pup isolation calls are recorded throughout development from individual pups isolated from dam and littermates. In adulthood, vocalizations are recorded during same-sex interactions (without a sexual component) by exposing socially motivated males or females to an unknown same-sex conspecific. We also provide a protocol to record vocalizations from adult males exposed to an estrus female. In this context, there is a sexual component in the interaction. These protocols are established to elicit a large amount of ultrasonic vocalizations in laboratory mice. However, we point out the important inter-individual variability in the vocal behavior of mice, which should be taken into account by recording a minimal number of individuals (at least 12 in each condition). These recordings of ultrasonic vocalizations are used to evaluate the call rate, the vocal repertoire and the acoustic structure of the calls. Data are combined with the analysis of synchronous video recordings to provide a more complete view on social communication in mice. These protocols are used to characterize the vocal communication deficits in mice lacking ProSAP1/Shank2, a gene associated with autism spectrum disorders. More ultrasonic vocalizations recordings can also be found on the mouseTube database, developed to favor the exchange of such data.

Mouse ultrasonic vocalizations are used as proxies to model the genetic bases of vocal communication deficits in mouse models for neuropsychiatric disorders. The present protocol describes three experimental contexts that reliably elicit ultrasonic vocalizations from pups (throughout development) and adult mice (same-sex interactions, male-estrus female interactions).

Mice emit ultrasonic vocalizations in different contexts throughout development and in adulthood. These vocal signals are now currently used as proxies ...

Eye-Tracking Control to Assess Cognitive Functions in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with pathological involvement of upper and lower motoneurons, subsequently leading to progressive loss of motor and speech abilities. In addition, cognitive functions are impaired in a subset of patients. To evaluate these potential deficits in severely physically impaired ALS patients, eye-tracking is a promising means to conduct cognitive tests. The present article focuses on how eye movements, an indirect means of communication for physically disabled patients, can be utilized to allow for detailed neuropsychological assessment. The requirements, in terms of oculomotor parameters that have to be met for sufficient eye-tracking in ALS patients are presented. The properties of stimuli, including type of neuropsychological tests and style of presentation, best suited to successfully assess cognitive functioning, are also described. Furthermore, recommendations regarding procedural requirements are provided. Overall, this methodology provides a reliable, easy to administer and fast approach for assessing cognitive deficits in patients who are unable to speak or write such as patients with severe ALS. The only confounding factor might be deficits in voluntary eye movement control in a subset of ALS patients.

Cognitive deficits are common in about one third of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurological condition leading to progressive impairments in speech and movement abilities. To conduct cognitive tests in patients unable to speak or write a reliable and easy to administer eye-tracking paradigm was developed.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with pathological involvement of upper and lower motoneurons, subsequently leading to ...

Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects

The present work is a description and an assessment of a methodology designed to quantify different aspects of the interaction between language processing and the perception of the visual world. The recording of eye-gaze patterns has provided good evidence for the contribution of both the visual context and linguistic/world knowledge to language comprehension. Initial research assessed object-context effects to test&#160;theories of modularity in language processing. In the introduction, we describe how subsequent investigations have taken the role of the wider visual context in language processing as a research topic in its own right, asking questions such as how our visual perception of events and of speakers contributes to&#160;comprehension informed by&#160;comprehenders&#39; experience. Among the examined aspects of the visual context are actions, events, a speaker&#39;s gaze, and emotional facial expressions, as well as spatial object configurations. Following an overview of the eye-tracking method and its different applications, we list the key steps of the methodology in the protocol, illustrating how to successfully use it to study visually-situated language comprehension. A final section presents three sets of representative results and illustrates the benefits and limitations of eye tracking for investigating the interplay between the perception of the visual world and language comprehension.

The present article reviews an eye-tracking methodology for studies on language comprehension. To obtain reliable data, key steps of the protocol must be followed. Among these are the correct set-up of the eye tracker (e.g., ensuring good quality of the eye and head images) and accurate calibration.

The present work is a description and an assessment of a methodology designed to quantify different aspects of the interaction between language processing ...

Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language

In a typical eye tracking study using the visual world paradigm, participants' eye movements to objects or pictures in the visual workspace are recorded via an eye tracker as the participant produces or comprehends a spoken language describing the concurrent visual world. This paradigm has high versatility, as it can be used in a wide range of populations, including those who cannot read and/or who cannot overtly give their behavioral responses, such as preliterate children, elderly adults, and patients. More importantly, the paradigm is extremely sensitive to fine grained manipulations of the speech signal, and it can be used to study the online processing of most topics in language comprehension at multiple levels, such as the fine grained acoustic phonetic features, the properties of words, and the linguistic structures. The protocol described in this article illustrates how a typical visual world eye tracking study is conducted, with an example showing how the online processing of some semantically complex statements can be explored with the visual world paradigm.

The visual world paradigm monitors participants' eye movements in the visual workspace as they are listening to or speaking a spoken language. This paradigm can be used to investigate the online processing of a wide range of psycholinguistic questions, including semantically complex statements, such as disjunctive statements.

In a typical eye tracking study using the visual world paradigm, participants' eye movements to objects or pictures in the visual workspace are recorded ...

Eye-tracking to Distinguish Comprehension-based and Oculomotor-based Regressive Eye Movements During Reading

Regressive eye movements are eye movements that move backwards through the text and comprise approximately 10-25% of eye movements during reading. As such, understanding the causes and mechanisms of regressions plays an important role in understanding eye movement behavior. Inhibition of return (IOR) is an oculomotor effect that results in increased latency to return attention to a previously attended target versus a target that was not previously attended. Thus, IOR may affect regressions. This paper describes how to design materials to distinguish between regressions caused by comprehension-related and oculomotor processes; the latter is subject to IOR. The method allows researchers to identify IOR and control the causes of regressions. While the method requires tightly controlled materials and large numbers of participants and materials, it allows researchers to distinguish and control the types of regressions that occur in their reading studies.

The method was designed to investigate the role of inhibition of return (IOR) in regressive eye movements during reading. The focus is on differentiating between regressions triggered as a result of comprehension difficulty versus those triggered from oculomotor error, including the role of IOR in the two types of regressions.

Regressive eye movements are eye movements that move backwards through the text and comprise approximately 10-25% of eye movements during reading. As ...

Using the Visual World Paradigm to Study Sentence Comprehension in Mandarin-Speaking Children with Autism

Sentence comprehension relies on the ability to rapidly integrate different types of linguistic and non-linguistic information. However, there is currently a paucity of research exploring how preschool children with autism understand sentences using different types of cues. The mechanisms underlying sentence comprehension remains largely unclear. The present study presents a protocol to examine the sentence comprehension abilities of preschool children with autism. More specifically, a visual world paradigm of eye-tracking is used to explore the moment-to-moment sentence comprehension in the children. The paradigm has multiple advantages. First, it is sensitive to the time course of sentence comprehension and thus can provide rich information about how sentence comprehension unfolds over time. Second, it requires minimal task and communication demands, so it is ideal for testing children with autism. To further minimize the computational burden of children, the present study measures eye movements that arise as automatic responses to linguistic input rather than measuring eye movements that accompany conscious responses to spoken instructions.

We present a protocol to examine the use of morphological cues during real-time sentence comprehension by children with autism.