Duan Xiaoting, Huang Zehao, Zhang Shuai, Zhu Gancheng, Wang Rong, Wang Zhiguo
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China.
J Eye Mov Res. 2024 Feb 27;17(1). doi: 10.16910/jemr.17.1.2. eCollection 2024.
Although Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 infection (SARS-CoV-2) is primarily recognized as a respiratory disease, mounting evidence suggests that it may lead to neurological and cognitive impairments. The current study used three eye-tracking tasks (free-viewing, fixation, and smooth pursuit) to assess the oculomotor functions of mild infected cases over six months with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected volunteers. Fifty symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected, and 24 self-reported healthy controls completed the eye-tracking tasks in an initial assessment. Then, 45, and 40 symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected completed the tasks at 2- and 6-months post-infection, respectively. In the initial assessment, symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected exhibited impairments in diverse eye movement metrics. Over the six months following infection, the infected reported overall improvement in health condition, except for self-perceived mental health. The eye movement patterns in the free-viewing task shifted toward a more focal processing mode and there was no significant improvement in fixation stability among the infected. A linear discriminant analysis shows that eye movement metrics could differentiate the infected from healthy controls with an accuracy of approximately 62%, even 6 months post-infection. These findings suggest that symptomatic SARSCoV- 2 infection may result in persistent impairments in oculomotor functions, and the employment of eye-tracking technology can offer valuable insights into both the immediate and long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Future studies should employ a more balanced research design and leverage advanced machine-learning methods to comprehensively investigate the impact of SARSCoV- 2 infection on oculomotor functions.
尽管严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2感染（SARS-CoV-2）主要被认为是一种呼吸道疾病，但越来越多的证据表明它可能导致神经和认知障碍。本研究使用三项眼动追踪任务（自由观看、注视和平滑追踪）来评估有症状的SARS-CoV-2感染志愿者在感染六个月以上的轻度感染病例的眼动功能。50名有症状的SARS-CoV-2感染者和24名自我报告健康的对照者在初始评估中完成了眼动追踪任务。然后，45名和40名有症状的SARS-CoV-2感染者分别在感染后2个月和6个月完成了这些任务。在初始评估中，有症状的SARS-CoV-2感染者在多种眼动指标上表现出受损。在感染后的六个月里，感染者报告除了自我感知的心理健康外，健康状况总体有所改善。自由观看任务中的眼动模式转向了更聚焦的处理模式，感染者的注视稳定性没有显著改善。线性判别分析表明，眼动指标能够以约62%的准确率区分感染者和健康对照者，即使在感染后6个月也是如此。这些发现表明，有症状的SARS-CoV-2感染可能导致眼动功能的持续受损，而眼动追踪技术的应用可以为SARS-CoV-2感染的即时和长期影响提供有价值的见解。未来的研究应采用更平衡的研究设计，并利用先进的机器学习方法来全面研究SARS-CoV-2感染对眼动功能的影响。
