Videman Karoliina, Ashorn Ulla, Ashorn Per, Hallamaa Lotta, Maleta Kenneth, Mangani Charles, Leppänen Jukka M
Center for Child, Adolescent and Maternal Health Research, Tampere University, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere, Finland.
Department of Paediatrics, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025 Jul 28;5(7):e0004811. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0004811. eCollection 2025.
Processing speed and response control are fundamental properties of brain function and potential markers of cognitive ability. This study, a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial, examined whether eye-tracking measures of saccadic reaction time and gaze control are associated with an established cognitive ability test, Raven's coloured progressive matrices (CPM), among 13-year-old rural Malawian adolescents (1003 participants, 50.3% boys). Mean prosaccadic reaction time (pSRTm), antisaccade error rate (PE) and CPM result were obtained for 760 (75.8%), 621 (61.6%) and 997 (99.4%) children. Pearson correlation and linear regression were used to evaluate the association of the tasks.Faster pSRTm and lower PE were very weakly associated with higher CPM score (rs -0.12, p = .001 and -0.11, p = .006). In the covariate adjusted regression models, faster prosaccadic reaction time (pSRTm) was very weakly associated with higher scores in CPM test (adjusted coef -0.02, 95%CI (-.03- -.002), p = .03), but antisaccadic errors were not associated with CPM score (adjusted coef -0.63, 95%CI (-1.60 -.33), p = .20). Post hoc-analyses suggested stronger associations between eye-tracking measures and CPM among participants with more schooling (years in school <4.5 or >4.5, rs between pSRTm and CPM -0.05 and -0.21; between PE and CPM -0.01 and -0.39). The results confirm the predicted association between saccadic speed and cognitive ability in an understudied population, but the connection is weaker than expected according to earlier studies. Schooling potentially moderates the association between eye-tracking tests and CPM.
处理速度和反应控制是脑功能的基本特性以及认知能力的潜在标志物。本研究是一项对随机对照试验的二次分析，旨在探讨在13岁的马拉维农村青少年（1003名参与者，50.3%为男孩）中，眼跳反应时间和注视控制的眼动追踪测量指标是否与既定的认知能力测试——瑞文彩色渐进矩阵测验（CPM）相关。760名（75.8%）、621名（61.6%）和997名（99.4%）儿童分别获得了平均前眼跳反应时间（pSRTm）、反眼跳错误率（PE）和CPM结果。采用Pearson相关性分析和线性回归来评估任务之间的关联。更快的pSRTm和更低的PE与更高的CPM分数之间存在非常微弱的关联（rs分别为-0.12，p = 0.001和-0.11，p = 0.006）。在协变量调整回归模型中，更快的前眼跳反应时间（pSRTm）与CPM测试中更高的分数存在非常微弱的关联（调整系数为-0.02，95%置信区间（-0.03 - -0.002），p = 0.03），但反眼跳错误与CPM分数无关（调整系数为-0.63，95%置信区间（-1.60 - 0.33），p = 0.20）。事后分析表明，在受教育程度更高的参与者（在校年数<4.5或>4.5）中，眼动追踪测量指标与CPM之间的关联更强（pSRTm与CPM之间的rs为-0.05和-0.21；PE与CPM之间的rs为-0.01和-0.39）。结果证实了在一个研究较少的人群中，眼跳速度与认知能力之间存在预期的关联，但根据早期研究，这种联系比预期的要弱。受教育程度可能会调节眼动追踪测试与CPM之间的关联。
