AUTHOR=Wen Shirui , Zhang Huangyemin , Huang Kailing , Wei Xiaojie , Yang Ke , Wang Quan , Feng Li 

TITLE=Impaired orienting function detected through eye movements in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 17 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1290959

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2023.1290959

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=Objective: Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) often exhibit attention function impairment. The orienting network is the sub-system of the attention network that has not been fully studied. In this study, we used eye-tracking technology with the attention network test (ANT)-based task to assess the orienting function of TLE patients, aiming to characterize their eye movement patterns. Methods: 37 TLE patients and 29 healthy controls (HCs) completed the ANT task based on eye-tracking technology. Orienting function damage was mainly assessed by ANT-orienting-effect. The eye movement metrics were compared between groups, such as mean first goal-directed saccade latency (MGSL), total saccades, and saccade amplitudes. Results: The TLE patients had significantly lower ANT-orienting-effect (HC: 54.05 ± 34.05, TLE: 32.29±39.54) and lower eye-tracking-orienting-effect (HC: 116.98 ± 56.59, TLE: 86.72±59.10) than that of the HCs. The larger orienting effects indicate that orienting responses are faster when receiving a spatial cue compared to a center cue. In the spatial cue condition, compared to HCs, the TLE group showed longer first goal-directed saccade latency (