Eye Tracking as a functional biomarker in Neurological and Mental Health Disease

There is an urgent need for the development of new tools that can provide a relatively highthroughput, objective assessment of brain function in individuals with neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative or psychiatric disorders. The overarching objective of this research proposal is to use eye movement tasks to identify biomarkers that can be used in the assessment of brain function in these disorders. We will utilize the EyeLink 1000 manufactured by SR Research Inc. (Mississauga, ON), to optimize the application of structured and unstructured eye movement tasks that will identify phenotypic behaviours that characterize specific neurodevelopmental, neurological and psychiatric disorders. The internships will offer an enriched training environment, in that the interns will interact with a company that markets the state-of-the art instrument for measuring eye movements, use the instrument to investigate underlying neural correlates of behaviour, and apply this knowledge to enhance our understanding of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by deficits across multiple domains of brain function. SR Research will benefit from this collaboration since the project aims to develop eye tracking techniques as biometric markers of neurodevelopmental, neurological and psychiatric disorders. This effort aligns with the strategic priorities of SR Research to develop new applications for its products.

Faculty Supervisor:

Doug Munoz

Student:

Carmela Paolozza

Partner:

SR Research

Discipline:

Medicine

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

Queen's University