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Visual tracking behavior in low functioning head-injured adults
1College of Letters & Science, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh 54901, USA.
Objective:
To analyze visual tracking patterns of low functioning head-injured adults as follow-up to finding that visual tracking performance predicts rehabilitation-ready (RR) status.
Design:
Case series of patients in a 4-year study of predictors of early cognitive improvement.
Setting:
Private subacute care facility providing sensory stimulation and slowly paced rehabilitation.
Patients:
Convenience sample of 76 subjects: 45 achieved RR status; 31 did not (NRR). Men = 54; Women = 22. Age at injury: 12 to 73 years (median [Md] = 27). Time postinjury at initial assessment: 25 to 365 days (Md = 57). Cognitive status at initial assessment: Western Neuro Sensory Stimulation Profile (WNSSP) Score below 47.
Intervention:
Subjects assessed by WNSSP Visual Tracking subscale (VISTRACK) at admission and every 2 weeks thereafter for 2 to 48 months postinjury.
Main Outcome Measures:
VISTRACK scores for Direction (horizontal vs vertical) and Stimulus (mirror, individual, picture, object) analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively at admission and longitudinally.
Results:
RR subjects showed significantly higher scores at admission when tracking face in mirror versus other stimuli. No differences were observed for NRR subjects. No statistical differences seen for direction of tracking for either group, but 48% of subjects showed preference for tracking in one direction versus the other at initial assessment.
Conclusions:
Visual tracking not a unitary phenomenon but dependent on stimulus and direction. RR subjects' ability to track their own face in mirror seems to be critical variable in predictive value of VISTRACK subscale. Potency of human face as stimulus relates to developmental and neurophysiological factors. Awareness of effects of stimulus and direction on tracking function warrants comprehensive visual tracking assessment.