Home-Based Attentional Bias Modification with Webcam-Based Eye Tracking with Persons with Cognitive Impairment: A...

Remotely delivered attentional bias modification (ABM) studies involving persons with cognitive impairment are lacking. Thus, the feasibility of an adapted ABM paradigm with webcam-based eye tracking was explored.

Four of the eight participants recruited (males, M_age = 69 years, Alzheimer's disease = 3, mild cognitive impairment = 1) completed up to four daily ABM sessions. Tasks comprised pre- and post-intervention depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and rumination (RRS) measures, a cognitive screen (TICS) (A), affect (PANAS) (B) and dot-probe AB measures (C), and dot-probe ABM (D) (Session 1-A, B, C, D, C, and B; Sessions 2 to 4-B, D, C, and B).

The intervention was feasible (as defined by completion rates) and appeared beneficial in this small sample (as defined by post-intervention improvements in mood). Sessions were long, and task completion/adherence was impacted by task access/participants' ability to complete tasks independently. Mind wandering, stimuli familiarity, and eye/fatigue were reported.

The intervention requires further adaptation (e.g. fewer eye-tracking tasks per session). Limitations include participant self-selection/loss, a lack of control group, and that the determinants of mood change are unclear.

ABM, a novel intervention, may be an effective mood-disorder treatment for individuals with cognitive impairment.