Total Gaze Duration Research Articles

Preferential attention towards the eye‐region amongst individuals with insomnia

People with insomnia often perceive their own facial appearance as more tired compared with the appearance of others. Evidence also highlights the eye-region in projecting tiredness cues to perceivers, and tiredness judgements often rely on preferential attention towards this region. Using a novel eye-tracking paradigm, this study examined: (i) whether individuals with insomnia display preferential attention towards the eye-region, relative to nose and mouth regions, whilst observing faces compared with normal-sleepers; and (ii) whether an attentional bias towards the eye-region amongst individuals with insomnia is self-specific or general in nature. Twenty individuals with DSM-5 Insomnia Disorder and 20 normal-sleepers viewed 48 neutral facial photographs (24 of themselves, 24 of other people) for periods of 4000ms. Eye movements were recorded using eye-tracking, and first fixation onset, first fixation duration and total gaze duration were examined for three interest-regions (eyes, nose, mouth). Significant group×interest-region interactions indicated that, regardless of the face presented, participants with insomnia were quicker to attend to, and spent more time observing, the eye-region relative to the nose and mouth regions compared with normal-sleepers. However, no group×face×interest-region interactions were established. Thus, whilst individuals with insomnia displayed preferential attention towards the eye-region in general, this effect was not accentuated during self-perception. Insomnia appears to be characterized by a general, rather than self-specific, attentional bias towards the eye-region. These findings contribute to our understanding of face perception in insomnia, and provide tentative support for cognitive models of insomnia demonstrating that individuals with insomnia monitor faces in general, with a specific focus around the eye-region, for cues associated with tiredness.

Cross-modal discrimination of human gender by domestic dogs

We spontaneously categorize people as male or female, and when hearing a human voice we expect to see an appropriate sex-matched visual image. The extent to which domesticated species, which share our social environment, spontaneously develop such categorization abilities remains underinvestigated. Here we used a cross-modal preferential looking design to determine whether domestic dogs, Canis familiaris, spontaneously attribute an unfamiliar voice to a person of the corresponding sex. Fifty-one dogs were played a prerecorded male or female voice in the presence of a man and a woman. The responses were scored as correct or incorrect from both the direction of the first look and the total gaze duration towards each person after the voice presentation. Dogs living with one adult, or one man and one woman, performed significantly below chance as more (71%) of these dogs looked towards the incorrect person first. However, dogs living with more than two adults (including at least one man and one woman) performed significantly better, and significantly more (80%) of these dogs looked at the correct person for longer than they looked at the incorrect person. This suggests that while all of the dogs had spontaneously learnt to categorize human gender across sensory modalities, this ability was expressed differently depending on their social experience with humans. Dogs with greater experience, through regular exposure to multiple male and female human exemplars, responded by orienting towards the correct person, while those with more limited experience avoided looking towards the correct person. We discuss the importance of experience in determining the way that individuals spontaneously form and express categorization abilities.

Effect of Antidepressant Medication Use on Emotional Information Processing in Major Depression

Acute administration of antidepressant medication increases emotional information processing for positive information in both depressed and healthy persons. This effect is likely relevant to the therapeutic actions of these medications, but it has not been studied in patients with major depressive disorder taking antidepressants as typically prescribed in the community. The authors used eye tracking to examine the effects of antidepressant medication on selective attention for emotional stimuli in a sample of 47 patients with major depressive disorder (21 medicated and 26 unmedicated) and 47 matched comparison subjects without depression. Participants completed a passive-viewing eye-tracking task assessing selective attention for positive, dysphoric, threatening, and neutral stimuli in addition to providing medication information and self-report measures of depression and anxiety severity. Depressed participants currently taking antidepressants and nondepressed comparison subjects demonstrated greater total gaze duration and more fixations for positive stimuli compared with unmedicated depressed participants. Depressed participants on medication also had fewer fixations for dysphoric stimuli compared with depressed participants not on medication. Antidepressants, as prescribed in the community to patients with depression, appear to modify emotional information processing in the absence of differences in depression severity. These results are consistent with previous work and indicate a robust effect for antidepressants on positive information processing. They also provide further evidence for modification of information processing as a potential mechanism of action for antidepressant medication.

The Oxytocin Receptor Gene (OXTR) and Gazing Behavior during Social Interaction: An Observational Study in Young Adults

Background: In the present study, the relation between a polymorphic marker within the OXTR gene (rs53576) and gazing behavior during two separate social interaction tasks was examined. Gazing behavior was considered to be an integral part of belonging regulation processes. Methods: We conducted an observational interaction study (N = 116; 58 dyads) in a naturalistic setting. Participants were seated face to face with hidden cameras positioned behind them. Each couple was instructed to have two short conversations about daily topics (nightlife in the city and movies), separated by a distraction task. We studied the role of the OXTR gene in relation to gaze duration (total duration and mean duration per event) at the interaction partner, both for the total interaction and for the first and second halves of the interaction, separately. Results: Analyses showed a significant relationship between the OXTR genetic variant and mean gaze duration at the interaction partner. Individuals carrying an A-allele showed increased gaze duration. This genetic association was particularly present during the first half of the conversation. In the second interaction task, we confirmed the findings that A-allele carriers showed longer mean gaze duration. No associations were found for total gaze duration. Conclusions: The OXTR A-allele was associated with longer mean gaze duration at an unknown interaction partner, especially during the first halves of the interaction times. This might illustrate that A-carriers, compared to GG-homozygous individuals, need slightly more time to read the micro socio-emotional facial cues of a new interaction partner or need more time for social reconciliation processes. This could be indicative of a genetic liability for being less vulnerable to pick up new micro social cues.

Time Course of Attentional Bias Components Toward Body-shape Related Pictures Among Women with Fat Negative Physical Self: An Eye Movement Study

Despite evidence indicating fatness and thinness information are processed differently among weight preoccupied and eating disordered individuals, the exact nature of these attentional biases is not clear. In this research, eye movement (EM) tracking assessed biases in specific component processes of visual attention (i.e., orientation, detection, and maintenance of gaze) in relation to body related pictures among 20 women with fat negative physical self (FNPS) and 20 body satisfied young women. Eye movements were recorded while participants completed a dot-probe task that featured fatness-neutral and thinness-neutral picture pairs with the stimuli being presented for 2000 ms. Women with FNPS showed different attentional bias pattern toward fat- and thin-related pictures, with vigilance-maintenance pattern toward fat body pictures and vigilance pattern toward thin body pictures. Specifically, compared to controls, women with FNPS were more likely to direct their initial gaze toward fatness pictures, had a shorter mean latency of first fixation on both fatness and thinness pictures, had longer first fixation and total gaze duration on fatness pictures. Reaction time data showed a maintenance bias towards fatness pictures and difficulty in disengagement from both fatness and thinness pictures among the women with FNPS. In sum, results indicated women with FNPS show initial orienting, speeded detection and initial and total maintenance biases towards fat body pictures in addition to a speeded detection in relation to thin body pictures, which partly supported Vitousek and Hollon's (1990) cognitive model.

Biases in orienting and maintenance of attention among weight dissatisfied women: An eye-movement study

Despite evidence indicating fatness and thinness information are processed differently among weight-preoccupied and eating disordered individuals, the exact nature of these attentional biases is not clear. In this research, eye movement (EM) tracking assessed biases in specific component processes of visual attention (i.e., orientation, detection, maintenance and disengagement of gaze) in relation to body-related stimuli among 20 weight dissatisfied (WD) and 20 weight satisfied young women. Eye movements were recorded while participants completed a dot-probe task that featured fatness-neutral and thinness-neutral word pairs. Compared to controls, WD women were more likely to direct their initial gaze toward fatness words, had a shorter mean latency of first fixation on both fatness and thinness words, had longer first fixation on fatness words but shorter first fixation on thinness words, and shorter total gaze duration on thinness words. Reaction time data showed a maintenance bias towards fatness words among the WD women. In sum, results indicated WD women show initial orienting, speeded detection and initial maintenance biases towards fat body words in addition to a speeded detection – avoidance pattern of biases in relation to thin body words. In sum, results highlight the importance of the utility of EM-tracking as a means of identifying subtle attentional biases among weight dissatisfied women drawn from a non-clinical setting and the need to assess attentional biases as a dynamic process.

18F-FMT Uptake Seen Within Primary Cancer on PET Helps Predict Outcome of Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer

L-[3-(18)F]-alpha-methyl tyrosine ((18)F-FMT) is an amino-acid tracer for PET imaging. We evaluated the prognostic significance of (18)F-FMT PET in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Ninety-eight patients (80 men and 18 women; age range, 42-82 y; median age, 69 y) with stage I-IV non-small cell lung cancer were enrolled in this study. They included 57 with adenocarcinoma, 31 with squamous cell carcinoma, 5 with large cell carcinoma, and 5 with other conditions. The median follow-up duration was 17.0 mo. A pair of PET studies with (18)F-FMT and (18)F-FDG was performed, and tracer uptake by the primary tumor was evaluated using the maximal standardized uptake value (SUV(max)). Overall survival and disease-free survival were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The prognostic significance was assessed by univariate and multivariate analyses. The best discriminative SUV(max) cutoffs for (18)F-FMT and (18)F-FDG in the primary tumors were 1.6 and 11, respectively. In the univariate analysis, a high SUV(max) was significant in predicting poor overall survival for (18)F-FMT (P = 0.0129) and (18)F-FDG PET (P = 0.0481). According to histologic types, (18)F-FMT and (18)F-FDG uptake were a stronger prognostic predictor in adenocarcinoma than in nonadenocarcinomatous disease. Patients with a high SUV(max) for (18)F-FMT showed significantly worse disease-free survival rates than those with a low SUV(max), and multivariate analysis confirmed that a high SUV(max) for (18)F-FMT was an independent and significant factor in predicting a poor prognosis in patients with adenocarcinoma (P = 0.0191). Uptake of (18)F-FMT in primary tumors was an independent prognostic factor in patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma.

Observer's Hand Orientation Influences Mental Rotation of A Hand Stimulus

Mental rotation refers to the cognitive process in which a person imagines how an object or array would appear if rotated away from the PRENSETED OR USUAL orientation (Thayer Johnson,2006). Humans utilize this visuospatial ability to solve a range of spatial reasoning problems in daily life,such as recognition,navigation,and action planning,etc. (Creem,2007).It was proposed that when participants are required to make a left-right judgment of a display of hands or bodies rotated from upright orientation,they could invoke ego-centric mental transformation,rather than object-centric mental rotation (Parsons,2003; Zacks,2005) Tao et al (2007,2008) described the in-rotation effect in mental rotation of the hand. In their experiments,participants completed a left or right hand judgment task when either a left or right hand picture was presented. The results showed that in-rotation (rotated medially) hand was recognized more quickly and accurately than out-rotation hand. This suggests that the processing of mental rotation is limited by the biomechanical constraints of the corresponding physical rotation. However,it remains possible that this in-rotation effect is not necessarily the definitive proof for observers' mental rotation of their own hands,because this in-rotation effect can either be the result of a mental imagery of the movements of one's own hand or simply the participants' knowledge of biomechanical constrain. In the current study,seated participants place their own hands on their laps,the orientation of their hands were manipulated with either palm or back of the hands facing up (Experiment 1) or with their palm facing up but one of hands rotated 90 degrees (Experiment 2). Using the same left or right hand judgment task as in Tao et al (2008),we recorded participants' performance (reaction time and response errors) together with eye movement data during the task. First,we determined whether the mental transformation was based on participant's own hands or hands in the visual display. If the imagery was participants' own hands,then participant's own hand position would influence mental rotation of the hand stimulus. Second,we determined whether rotation direction would affect eye-movement measures,such as average fixation duration and total number of fixation et al. Third,we determined whether the gaze distributed equally on the hand picture in the encoding and validating stages of the mental rotation. The results of the two experimental showed that (1) When the palm or back view of the stimulus hand was consistent with that of the participants' hand (whether palm or back was facing the eye,either for both hands or for only the corresponding hand),participants' judgment was faster and more accurate than the case where the facing direction of the participants' hands and stimulus hands were not consistent; when participants' hand orientation was consistent with the that of the displayed hand picture,participants' judgment was faster and more accurate than the case where the orientation of the participants' hands and stimulus hands were not consistent; 2) for the same magnitude of rotation,in-rotation (rotated medially) hands was recognized more quickly and accurately than out-rotation hands especially in palm pictures. (3) This in-rotation effect was also found in total gaze duration,average fixation duration and proportion of gazes in thumb area over the entire hand picture; (4) in encoding and validating stages of the mental rotation process,the gaze was distributed in an asymmetrical fashion in both palm or back hand pictures,with the gaze concentrating on the thumb area; (5) all the right hand picture was recognized more quickly and accurately than left hand stimulus. These results suggest that participants' own hand influenced mental rotation of the hand,and the results strongly suggest that the in-rotation effect was indeed the result of the motor imagery of the participants' actual hand (rather than the hands in the display) and thus demonstrating the biomechanical constrain. The finding that thumb area was the dominant gaze area provides insight for the nature and sequence of stages of mental rotation process.