Item Details

abstract

Eye movements are used as a biomarker of neuropsychiatric and neurological function because they are highly sensitive to cognitive state and impairment. For this reason, eye movements have been used to study Parkinson’s disease in order to bypass the distal limb motor deficits seen with disease progression. This study aimed to use eye movements to correlate disease severity with performance on a battery of cognitive tasks, and ultimately elucidate some of the mechanisms behind the disease. Our initial results were consistent with previous literature, and we found changes in reaction time for patients compared to controls, as well as the same patients on and off medication. Performance was increased on-medication state for the delayed-saccade (DST). Trends in an increase in performance for the memory-guided (MGS) and antisaccade tasks were also seen. A perceptual vortex was uncovered in the antisaccade task, supporting the idea that decrease in cognitive control can impair one’s ability to overcome the sensory pull of a salient stimulus.

subject

contributor

Rogers, Emily (author)

ul Haq, Ihtsham (committee chair)

Stanford, Terrence (committee member)

Salinas, Emilio (committee member)

date

2016-08-25T08:35:20Z (accessioned)

2017-08-19T08:30:10Z (available)

2016 (issued)

degree

Neuroscience (discipline)

embargo

2017-08-19 (terms)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/62636 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

title

THE EFFECTS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE AND ASSOCIATED TREATMENTS ON SACCADIC EYE MOVEMENTS

type

Thesis