INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 06 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 04:00 pm - 05:15 pm Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120) Poster Session 06: Aging \| MCI \| Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 2 Final Abstract #70 Eyes Don’t Lie: Decoding the Role of Eye Movements and Network Segregation in Object-Location Association Memory Deficits in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment Mateo Lopez, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan; 2 VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, Ann Arbor, United States Anthony Moceri, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States Annalise Rahman-Fillipiak, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States Benjamin Hampstead, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan; 2 VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, Ann Arbor, United States Alexandru Iordan, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States Category: MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) Keyword 1: mild cognitive impairment Keyword 2: attention Keyword 3: neuroimaging: functional connectivity Objective: Remembering where objects are located in the environment involves attention and spatial processing pathways and is often impaired in individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a clinical precursor of dementia. Here, we investigated whether visual attention during object-location association (OLA) encoding, as measured by eye tracking, is associated with (1) subsequent memory test performance and (2) functional segregation of the dorsal-attention network (DAN), using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The DAN was selected as a network of interest because of its role in goal-oriented, top-down attention. Participants and Methods: Seventy-two older adults (age=73±6.4 years, female=39%) with amnestic MCI encoded 15 objects placed in various environments (i.e., OLAs). We used a TOBII eye tracking system to record eye movements (i.e., number and duration of fixations) during encoding and classified fixations specific to the object in its location (Hits) or the remainder of the environment (non-Hits). We then tested memory for OLAs by asking participants to indicate the locations of objects on a touchscreen that allowed us to measure accuracy under a free recall (i.e., blank screen) and then cued recall (i.e., picture of the room without objects placed) conditions. This paradigm allowed us to measure accuracy continuously between the selected versus actual location. Thus, higher “error scores” were reflective of worse memory. Finally, participants completed a standard recognition trial during which they selected the correct location from three target options. A subset of participants (n=55) encoded novel OLAs during fMRI scanning, which we used to calculate functional network segregation values. The fMRI task also included a perceptual control condition where the same object was displayed in the same location. We tested linear associations between eye movements, memory performance, and DAN segregation using Pearson correlations. Results: Lower free recall error was only associated with greater non-Hit duration (r=-0.3, p=0.01). However, lower cued recall error was associated with more non-Hit fixations (r=-0.33, p=0.004) and greater duration of both non-Hits (r=-0.35, p=0.003) and Hits (r=-0.28, p=0.02). Greater DAN segregation from the other associative networks was associated with lower cued recall error (r=-0.3, p=0.03) and higher recognition scores (r=0.33, p=0.01) for the novel OLAs, but not with eye-tracking variables. Finally, exploratory analyses considering other associative networks showed that greater segregation of the default-mode and cingulo-opercular networks was also associated with higher recognition scores for novel OLAs (p’s <= 0.02); however, similar relationships were also observed for the perceptual control condition (p’s <= 0.05), potentially suggesting less specific roles for these latter networks. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that memory deficits in those with MCI may arise from altered network level functioning and from reduced visual attention to both the targeted and non-targeted information. Interventions that enhance visual attention or that provide top-down strategies to reinforce attention to the targeted information may hold particular promise for enhancing memory.

Poster

02/15/2024
04:00 pm - 05:15 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)

Poster Session 06: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 2

Final Abstract #70

Eyes Don’t Lie: Decoding the Role of Eye Movements and Network Segregation in Object-Location Association Memory Deficits in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Mateo Lopez, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan; 2 VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, Ann Arbor, United States
Anthony Moceri, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
Annalise Rahman-Fillipiak, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
Benjamin Hampstead, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan; 2 VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, Ann Arbor, United States
Alexandru Iordan, 1 Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation Based Interventions, Department of Psychiatry, Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States

Category: MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment)

Keyword 1: mild cognitive impairment
Keyword 2: attention
Keyword 3: neuroimaging: functional connectivity

Objective:

Remembering where objects are located in the environment involves attention and spatial processing pathways and is often impaired in individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a clinical precursor of dementia. Here, we investigated whether visual attention during object-location association (OLA) encoding, as measured by eye tracking, is associated with (1) subsequent memory test performance and (2) functional segregation of the dorsal-attention network (DAN), using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The DAN was selected as a network of interest because of its role in goal-oriented, top-down attention.

Participants and Methods:

Seventy-two older adults (age=73±6.4 years, female=39%) with amnestic MCI encoded 15 objects placed in various environments (i.e., OLAs). We used a TOBII eye tracking system to record eye movements (i.e., number and duration of fixations) during encoding and classified fixations specific to the object in its location (Hits) or the remainder of the environment (non-Hits). We then tested memory for OLAs by asking participants to indicate the locations of objects on a touchscreen that allowed us to measure accuracy under a free recall (i.e., blank screen) and then cued recall (i.e., picture of the room without objects placed) conditions. This paradigm allowed us to measure accuracy continuously between the selected versus actual location. Thus, higher “error scores” were reflective of worse memory. Finally, participants completed a standard recognition trial during which they selected the correct location from three target options. A subset of participants (n=55) encoded novel OLAs during fMRI scanning, which we used to calculate functional network segregation values. The fMRI task also included a perceptual control condition where the same object was displayed in the same location. We tested linear associations between eye movements, memory performance, and DAN segregation using Pearson correlations.

Results:

Lower free recall error was only associated with greater non-Hit duration (r=-0.3, p=0.01). However, lower cued recall error was associated with more non-Hit fixations (r=-0.33, p=0.004) and greater duration of both non-Hits (r=-0.35, p=0.003) and Hits (r=-0.28, p=0.02). Greater DAN segregation from the other associative networks was associated with lower cued recall error (r=-0.3, p=0.03) and higher recognition scores (r=0.33, p=0.01) for the novel OLAs, but not with eye-tracking variables. Finally, exploratory analyses considering other associative networks showed that greater segregation of the default-mode and cingulo-opercular networks was also associated with higher recognition scores for novel OLAs (p’s <= 0.02); however, similar relationships were also observed for the perceptual control condition (p’s <= 0.05), potentially suggesting less specific roles for these latter networks.

Conclusions:

Our findings indicate that memory deficits in those with MCI may arise from altered network level functioning and from reduced visual attention to both the targeted and non-targeted information. Interventions that enhance visual attention or that provide top-down strategies to reinforce attention to the targeted information may hold particular promise for enhancing memory.