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Published on: May 15, 2019
Visual tracking at 4 months in preterm infants predicts 6.5-year cognition and attention
Ylva Fredriksson Kaul1, Kerstin Rosander2, Claes von Hofsten2
1Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. ylva.fredriksson_kaul@kbh.uu.se.
Insights
Infant visual tracking predicts cognitive and attention skills at 6.5 years. Early eye-head coordination in very preterm infants is linked to later neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Visual tracking of moving objects is crucial for sustained attention and trajectory prediction.
- Long-term neurodevelopmental implications of infant visual tracking in very preterm infants remain understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between infant eye-head tracking measures and neurodevelopment at 6.5 years.
- To determine if early visual tracking predicts cognitive and attention outcomes in very preterm infants.
Main Methods:
- Assessed visual tracking (gaze gain, smooth pursuit gain, timing) at 4 months corrected age in 57 very preterm infants (<32 weeks gestational age).
- Evaluated cognitive function (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV) and attention (Brown ADD) at 6.5 years.
- Analyzed relationships between infant tracking measures and later neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Main Results:
- Infant gaze gain and smooth pursuit gain at 4 months strongly correlated with all Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV parameters at 6.5 years.
- Tracking timing in response to sinusoidal motion related to attention parameters (Brown ADD).
- Visual function did not significantly impact these associations.
Conclusions:
- Infant ability to track moving objects is an early predictive marker for cognition and attention at school age.
- Early eye-head coordination in very preterm infants is closely linked to later cognitive, perceptual, and attention skills.
- Predictive elements in infant gaze tracking may offer targets for future neurodevelopmental interventions.
Background:
Visual tracking of moving objects requires sustained attention and prediction of the object's trajectory. We tested the hypothesis that measures of eye-head tracking of moving objects are associated to long-term neurodevelopment in very preterm infants.
Methods:
Visual tracking performance was assessed at 4 month's corrected age in 57 infants with gestational age <32 weeks. An object moved in front of the infant with sinusoidal or triangular (i.e. abrupt) turns of the direction. Gaze gain, smooth pursuit gain, and timing of gaze to object motion were analyzed. At 6.5 years the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV), the Brown Attention Deficit Disorder (Brown ADD), and visual examination were performed.
Results:
Gaze gain and smooth pursuit gain at 4 months were strongly related to all WISC-IV parameters at 6.5 years. Gaze gain for the triangular and sinusoidal motion patterns related similarly to the cognitive scores. For the sinusoidal motion pattern, timing related to most Brown ADD parameters. There were no statistically significant differences in associations dependent on motion pattern. Visual function did not influence the results.
Conclusion:
The ability to attend to and smoothly track a moving object in infancy is an early marker of cognition and attention at 6.5 years.
Impact:
Potential long-term implications of infant visual tracking of moving objects for school-age neurodevelopment has not been previously studied in very preterm infants. Early coordination of eye and head movements in gaze gain, smooth pursuit, and timing of gaze to object motion are closely associated with cognition and attention at 6.5 years. As related functions at 6.5 years include perceptual and verbal skills, working memory, processing speed and attention, predictive elements in gaze tracking of moving objects might be a suitable target for future intervention studies.
