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. 2022 Sep:232:105165.
doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105165. Epub 2022 Jul 28.

Eye movements as a measure of word comprehension deficits in primary progressive aphasia

Tatiana Karpouzian-Rogers  1 , Rob Hurley  2 , Mustafa Seckin  3 , Stacey Moeller  4 , Nathan Gill  5 , Hui Zhang  5 , Christina Coventry  6 , Matthew Nelson  7 , Sandra Weintraub  8 , Emily Rogalski  8 , M Marsel Mesulam  9
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Eye movements as a measure of word comprehension deficits in primary progressive aphasia

Tatiana Karpouzian-Rogers et al. Brain Lang. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Introduction: Eye movement studies can uncover subtle aspects of language processing impairment in individuals with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), who may have difficulty understanding words. This study examined eye movement patterns on a word-object matching task in response to varying levels of word-knowledge in PPA.

Methods: Participants with semantic and non-semantic PPA completed an object-matching task, where a word was presented and participants then selected the corresponding pictured object from an array. Afterwards, participants defined words for trials to which they incorrectly pointed. Linear mixed-effects analyses examined fixation differences on targets and related and unrelated foils.

Results: On incorrectly-pointed trials, participants demonstrated greater fixation duration on related foils, demonstrating intra-category blurring. For words that could not be defined, there was similar fixation duration on related and unrelated foils, demonstrating inter-category semantic blurring.

Discussion: This study demonstrated that fixation patterns reflect varying levels of word knowledge in PPA.

Keywords: Eye Movement; Primary Progressive Aphasia; Word Comprehension.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(Top) On correct trials, the PPA-S group spent a similar amount of time fixating on targets and related foils, while the PPA-NS group spent a greater time fixating on targets. On incorrect trials, there was a preference for looking at the related versus unrelated foils, which was similar for both groups. (Bottom) For fully or partially defined items, there was greater time viewing related foils, while on items that could not be defined, there was little differentiation between related and unrelated foils.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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