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An Automated Method for Assessing Visual Acuity in Infants and Toddlers Using an Eye-Tracking System
Published on: March 17, 2023
Visual attention in young adulthood after cardiopulmonary resuscitation at birth or being born small for gestational
1Department of Pediatrics, Göteborg University, The Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Sweden. gerd.viggedal@vgregion.se
Insights
Infants needing cardiopulmonary resuscitation due to perinatal asphyxia or born small for gestational age showed subtle attention deficits. Moderate asphyxia and small for gestational age groups had longer reaction times, suggesting attentional function impacts from severe neonatal complications.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Perinatal asphyxia and being small for gestational age are significant neonatal complications.
- These conditions can potentially impact long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes, including cognitive functions.
- Visual attention is a critical cognitive function that develops in early life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate visual attention, including focused attention and attention shifting, in young adults with a history of perinatal asphyxia or being small for gestational age.
- To compare the attentional performance of these individuals with that of a control group.
- To explore potential correlations between the severity of neonatal complications and attentional function deficits.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Posner cue-target paradigm to assess visual attention.
- Recruited 43 young adults (19-28 years) with perinatal asphyxia (n=31) or small for gestational age (n=12) and 18 control subjects.
- Categorized asphyxia group into mild and moderate based on neonatal neurological symptoms.
Main Results:
- A significant main effect of trial blocks and conditions was observed, with reaction times decreasing over blocks and varying by cue validity (fastest to valid, slowest to invalid).
- No statistically significant group differences in overall performance were found.
- However, individuals with moderate perinatal asphyxia and those small for gestational age exhibited longer average reaction times across all conditions compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- While not statistically significant across all comparisons, trends suggest that more severe neonatal complications (moderate asphyxia, small for gestational age) are associated with more pronounced deficits in attentional functions.
- The findings imply that early-life insults can have lasting effects on cognitive processes like visual attention.
- Further research with larger sample sizes may be warranted to confirm these subtle differences in attentional performance.
Abstract:
The Posner cue-target paradigm for the study of shifts in visual attention was used to assess focused attention and shifts in attention in 43 young adults, 19 to 28 years of age, who had been in need of cardiopulmonary resuscitation at birth because of perinatal asphyxia (n=31) or who were born small for gestational age (n= 12). Their performances were compared to that of 18 control subjects. The subjects resuscitated at birth were divided into two groups, mild and moderate, according to neurological symptoms during the neonatal course. An expected significant main effect by block of trials and conditions was found, with general decrease in reaction times from Blocks 1 to 5 and with slowest reaction times to an invalid cue and fastest to a valid one. No group differences were statistically significant, but the moderate asphyxia and the groups small for gestational age had longer average reaction times on all test conditions than control subjects, implying that those who showed the most severe pre- or neonatal complications also were most affected in attentional functions.
