Disrupted microsaccade responses in late-life depression
Abstract Late-life depression (LLD) is a psychiatric disorder in older adults, characterized by high prevalence and significant mortality rates. Thus, it is imperative to develop objective and cost-effective methods for detecting LLD. Individuals with depression often exhibit disrupted levels of aro...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86399-9 |
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| author | Yao-Tung Lee Ying-Hsuan Tai Yi-Hsuan Chang Cesar Barquero Shu-Ping Chao Chin-An Wang |
| author_facet | Yao-Tung Lee Ying-Hsuan Tai Yi-Hsuan Chang Cesar Barquero Shu-Ping Chao Chin-An Wang |
| author_sort | Yao-Tung Lee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Late-life depression (LLD) is a psychiatric disorder in older adults, characterized by high prevalence and significant mortality rates. Thus, it is imperative to develop objective and cost-effective methods for detecting LLD. Individuals with depression often exhibit disrupted levels of arousal, and microsaccades, as a type of fixational eye movement that can be measured non-invasively, are known to be modulated by arousal. This makes microsaccades a promising candidate as biomarkers for LLD. In this study, we used a high-resolution, video-based eye-tracker to examine microsaccade behavior in a visual fixation task between LLD patients and age-matched healthy controls (CTRL). Our goal was to determine whether microsaccade responses are disrupted in LLD compared to CTRL. LLD patients exhibited significantly higher microsaccade peak velocities and larger amplitudes compared to CTRL. Although microsaccade rates were lower in LLD than in CTRL, these differences were not statistically significant. Additionally, while both groups displayed microsaccadic inhibition and rebound in response to changes in background luminance, this modulation was significantly blunted in LLD patients, suggesting dysfunction in the neural circuits responsible for microsaccade generation. Together, these findings, for the first time, demonstrate significant alterations in microsaccade behavior in LLD patients compared to CTRL, highlighting the potential of these disrupted responses as behavioral biomarkers for identifying individuals at risk for LLD. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0c2aa691c7514434bfde02bd3ec07f17 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| spelling | doaj-art-0c2aa691c7514434bfde02bd3ec07f172025-01-26T12:23:41ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-0115111110.1038/s41598-025-86399-9Disrupted microsaccade responses in late-life depressionYao-Tung Lee0Ying-Hsuan Tai1Yi-Hsuan Chang2Cesar Barquero3Shu-Ping Chao4Chin-An Wang5Department of Psychiatry, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical UniversityDepartment of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical UniversityEye-Tracking Laboratory, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical UniversityDepartment of Physical Activity and Sport Science, Peruvian University of Applied SciencesTaipei Neuroscience Institute, Taipei Medical UniversityDepartment of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical UniversityAbstract Late-life depression (LLD) is a psychiatric disorder in older adults, characterized by high prevalence and significant mortality rates. Thus, it is imperative to develop objective and cost-effective methods for detecting LLD. Individuals with depression often exhibit disrupted levels of arousal, and microsaccades, as a type of fixational eye movement that can be measured non-invasively, are known to be modulated by arousal. This makes microsaccades a promising candidate as biomarkers for LLD. In this study, we used a high-resolution, video-based eye-tracker to examine microsaccade behavior in a visual fixation task between LLD patients and age-matched healthy controls (CTRL). Our goal was to determine whether microsaccade responses are disrupted in LLD compared to CTRL. LLD patients exhibited significantly higher microsaccade peak velocities and larger amplitudes compared to CTRL. Although microsaccade rates were lower in LLD than in CTRL, these differences were not statistically significant. Additionally, while both groups displayed microsaccadic inhibition and rebound in response to changes in background luminance, this modulation was significantly blunted in LLD patients, suggesting dysfunction in the neural circuits responsible for microsaccade generation. Together, these findings, for the first time, demonstrate significant alterations in microsaccade behavior in LLD patients compared to CTRL, highlighting the potential of these disrupted responses as behavioral biomarkers for identifying individuals at risk for LLD.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86399-9Fixational eye movementsMicrosaccade rate and metricsMicrosaccadic inhibition and reboundGeriatric psychiatrics |
| spellingShingle | Yao-Tung Lee Ying-Hsuan Tai Yi-Hsuan Chang Cesar Barquero Shu-Ping Chao Chin-An Wang Disrupted microsaccade responses in late-life depression Scientific Reports Fixational eye movements Microsaccade rate and metrics Microsaccadic inhibition and rebound Geriatric psychiatrics |
| title | Disrupted microsaccade responses in late-life depression |
| title_full | Disrupted microsaccade responses in late-life depression |
| title_fullStr | Disrupted microsaccade responses in late-life depression |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disrupted microsaccade responses in late-life depression |
| title_short | Disrupted microsaccade responses in late-life depression |
| title_sort | disrupted microsaccade responses in late life depression |
| topic | Fixational eye movements Microsaccade rate and metrics Microsaccadic inhibition and rebound Geriatric psychiatrics |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86399-9 |
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