Using eye-tracking technology to measure cognitive function in mild traumatic brain injury: A scoping review

Abstract

Cognitive impairment is a common symptom of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and can have long term cognitive and behavioral consequences. Despite this, there is no universally accepted protocol for assessment of cognition in this population. Conventional neuropsychological assessment tools rely on verbal or manual responses which lend themselves to confounding factors such as stress, intelligence, initiation, and motivation, suggesting the need for more objective tools. A scoping review was undertaken to explore the utility of eye-tracking methods for detecting cognitive impairment in mTBI patients, and to survey the kinds of tasks used in this context. Six academic databases were searched for studies related to brain injury, eye tracking, and cognition. Data from 17 articles were extracted and synthesized. In most cases, neuropsychological and eye-tracking methods were in accordance when detecting cognitive impairment. However, in many cases, eye-tracking measures detected impairments when neuropsychological tasks did not. This review suggests that eye tracking could provide an effective, objective method to measure cognitive impairment in mTBI.