Ocular fixations and presaccadic potentials to explain pareidolias in Parkinson’s disease

• DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcaa073
• Publication Date: 2020-06-05T02:02:09Z
• Authors: Gajanan S Revankar; Noriaki Hattori; Yuta Kajiyama; Tomohito Nakano; Masahito Mihara; Etsuro Mori; Hideki Mochizuki
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Original Article; 3. Good health

Abstract In Parkinson’s disease, a precursor phenomenon to visual hallucinations presents as ‘pareidolias’ which make ambiguous forms appear meaningful. To evoke and detect pareidolias in patients, noise pareidolia test was recently developed, although its task-dependent mechanisms are yet be revealed. When subjected this test, we hypothesized that patients exhibiting would show altered top-down influence of processing allowing us demonstrate the pareidolic illusionary behaviour disease patients. end, evaluated eye-movement strategies fixation-related presaccadic activity on scalp EEG when participants performed test. Twelve healthy controls 21 for cognitive, visuo-spatial executive functions, took modified computer-based version free-viewing eye-tracking experiment. Eye-tracking metrics (fixation-related durations counts) documented eye movement employed correct responses (face/noise) misperceptions (pareidolia/missed) during early late search conditions. Simultaneously, recorded frontal parietal areas brain. Based scores, found certain exhibited whereas others did not. ANOVA data showed dwelled significantly longer faces affected both global local dynamics depending their visuo-perceptual status. Presaccadic electrodes groups positive pareidolias, negative noise, though these results depended mainly saccade size. However, sensitive higher potential independent sizes, suggesting stronger activation stimuli. We concluded with following interpretations (i) specifically characterizes inadequacies despite wide range cognitive (ii) dwell converge attention stimuli due abnormal generation proportional deficit search, time-independent alteration attentional network (iii) increased reflecting allocation irrelevant targets express phenomenon. While per se alters oculomotor dynamics, occur an modulation affects guidance