Speedy eye movements in multiple sclerosis: association with performance on visual and nonvisual cognitive tests

Eye movement difficulties in multiple sclerosis (MS) are common and may influence performance on cognitive tests. The following studies examined associations between a new measure of speedy eye movement speed and visual/nonvisual cognitive tests.

In Experiment 1, MS patients (N = 71) were administered cognitive tests and the Speedy Eyes Test (SET) as a measure of purposeful speedy eye movements under timed conditions. Experiment 2 was composed of MS patients (n = 60) and a neurologically healthy comparison group (n = 31) and examined group differences in an abbreviated version of the SET.

In both studies, slower eye movements were significantly associated with poorer performance on cognitive tests with a large effect size in Experiment 1 and a medium effect size in Experiment 2. Analyses in Experiment 2 also revealed significant group differences in an abbreviated measure of the SET, where MS patients had slower eye movements than the comparison group.

Pending further research, the SET, a brief, inexpensive, and nontechnical measure of speedy eye movement, may serve as a visual/oculomotor indicator of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis.