An early indicator of dementia can be spotted in the eyes, scientists have said. Many of us are aware of some of the more common symptoms of the devastating condition, which include memory loss and behavioural changes.
But some of the lesser known signs can appear in unlikely places – including in the eyes. More specifically, this symptom can affect people with Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia.
Involuntary eye movements known as saccades are slower in those with the condition. A report on new findings about the link between saccades and dementia, published in Science Daily, explained: “People with Alzheimer’s exhibit a loss of motor control along with cognitive decline.
“One of the earliest signs of this decay can be spotted in involuntary eye movements known as saccades. These quick twitches of the eyes in Alzheimer’s patients are often slower, less accurate, or delayed compared to those in healthy individuals.”
Based on this, researchers from École de Technologie Supérieure and Dartmouth University, revealed that this symptom could be detected through use of earpiece microphones. Researcher Arian Shamei said: “Eye movements are fascinating since they are some of the most rapid and precise movements in the human body, thus they rely on both excellent motor skills and cognitive functioning.”
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Their findings, which were presented at this year’s annual meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, demonstrated how microphones could be the best method of discerning slower saccades. Typically, detecting and analysing saccades directly requires a patient to be monitored by eye-tracking equipment.
However, this is not easily accessible for most people. Instead the team concluded that earpiece microphones would be more appropriate.
Miriam Boutros, who presented the findings, said: “We are using a device called a hearable. It is an earpiece with in-ear microphones that captures physiological signals from the body. Our goal is to develop health-monitoring algorithms for hearables, capable of continuous, long-term monitoring and early disease detection.”
According to her team, eye movements, including saccades, cause eardrum vibrations that can be picked up by sensitive microphones located within the ear. They are now trialling their theory on volunteers, giving them both hearables and conventional eye trackers.
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They hope to be able to identify signals corresponding to saccades, and to differentiate between healthy signals and others that are indicative of neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s.
The NHS lists symptoms of dementia as:
- Memory loss
- Difficulty concentrating
- Finding it hard to carry out familiar daily tasks, such as getting confused over the correct change when shopping
- Struggling to follow a conversation or find the right word
- Being confused about time and place
- Mood changes.
“These symptoms are often mild and may get worse only very gradually,” the health body says. If you spot any of these signs you should speak to your GP.
This post was originally published on here
