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Background: The oculomotor circuit spans many cortical and subcortical areas that have been implicated in psychiatric disease. This, combined with previous findings, suggests that eye tracking may be a useful method to investigate eating disorders. Therefore, this study aimed to assess oculomotor behaviors in youth with and without an eating disorder. Methods: Female youth with and without an eating disorder completed a structured task involving randomly interleaved pro-saccade (toward at a stimulus) and anti-saccade (away from stimulus) trials with video-based eye tracking. Differences in saccades (rapid eye movements between two points), eye blinks and pupil were examined. Results: Youth with an eating disorder (n = 65, Mage = 17.16 ± 3.5 years) were compared to healthy controls (HC; n = 65, Mage = 17.88 ± 4.3 years). The eating disorder group was composed of individuals with anorexia nervosa (n = 49), bulimia nervosa (n = 7) and other specified feeding or eating disorder (n = 9). The eating disorder group was further divided into two subgroups: individuals with a restrictive spectrum eating disorder (ED-R; n = 43) or a bulimic spectrum eating disorder (ED-BP; n = 22). In pro-saccade trials, the eating disorder group made significantly more fixation breaks than HCs (F(1,128) = 5.33, p = 0.023). The ED-BP group made the most anticipatory pro-saccades, followed by ED-R, then HCs (F(2,127) = 3.38, p = 0.037). Groups did not differ on rate of correct express or regular latency pro-saccades. In anti-saccade trials, groups only significantly differed on percentage of direction errors corrected (F(2, 127) = 4.554, p = 0.012). The eating disorder group had a significantly smaller baseline pupil size (F(2,127) = 3.60, p = 0.030) and slower pro-saccade dilation velocity (F(2,127) = 3.30, p = 0.040) compared to HCs. The ED-R group had the lowest blink probability during the intertrial interval (ITI), followed by ED-BP, with HCs having the highest ITI blink probability (F(2,125) = 3.63, p = 0.029). Conclusions: These results suggest that youth with an eating disorder may have different oculomotor behaviors during a structured eye tracking task. The oculomotor behavioral differences observed in this study presents an important step towards identifying neurobiological and cognitive contributions towards eating disorders. Plain English summary: Video based eye tracking is a promising method for studying differences between individuals with and without a psychiatric disease of interest. While some studies have explored oculomotor behaviors in individuals with an eating disorder, much remains unknown. The present study investigated saccades (fast eye movements between two points), eye blinks and pupil responses between female youth (aged 10–25 years) with and without an eating disorder during a pro-saccade (looking at a point) and anti-saccade (looking away from a point) eye tracking task. Individuals with an eating disorder made more pro-saccade guesses, had a smaller pupil size and blinked less before a trial started. In individuals with a restrictive type eating disorder (e.g., anorexia nervosa restrictive type), pupil responses may have a relationship with emotional dysregulation (poorly regulated emotional responses). Overall, this study represents an important step towards identifying oculomotor behavior differences in individuals with an eating disorder compared to controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent scoping review indicated military-connected children face stressors that may increase mental health issues. However, the majority of the included literature was American. To examine the experiences of Canadian military-connected children, we conducted in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of Canadian military-connected youth using a qualitative description approach. We conducted a content analysis on interview data, supported by qualitative data analysis software (MAXQDA), with coding done by two researchers who met regularly to discuss coding agreement. Thirteen children in military families participated and described the mental health impact of frequent mobility, parental absence, and risk of parental injury. The experiences of our participants were consistent with the results of an earlier scoping review on this topic. Our results suggest improving military cultural competence among health care providers and enhancing parental support may positively impact child well-being. More research is needed to understand resilience and vulnerability among Canadian military-connected children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When presented with a periodic stimulus, humans spontaneously adjust their movements from reacting to predicting the timing of its arrival, but little is known about how this sensorimotor adaptation changes across development. To investigate this, we analyzed saccade behavior in 114 healthy humans (ages 6-24 years) performing the visual metronome task, who were instructed to move their eyes in time with a visual target that alternated between two known locations at a fixed rate, and we compared their behavior to performance in a random task, where target onsets were randomized across five interstimulus intervals (ISIs) and thus the timing of appearance was unknown. Saccades initiated before registration of the visual target, thus in anticipation of its appearance, were labeled predictive [saccade reaction time (SRT),90ms] and saccades that were made in reaction to its appearance were labeled reactive (SRT.90ms). Eye-tracking behavior including saccadic metrics (e.g., peak velocity, amplitude), pupil size following saccade to target, and blink behavior all varied as a function of predicting or reacting to periodic targets. Compared with reactive saccades, predictive saccades had a lower peak velocity, a hypometric amplitude, smaller pupil size, and a reduced probability of blink occurrence before target appearance. The percentage of predictive and reactive saccades changed inversely from ages 8--16, at which they reached adult-levels of behavior. Differences in predictive saccades for fast and slow target rates are interpreted by differential maturation of cerebellar-thalamic-striatal pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In recent years, eye-tracking has been proposed as a promising tool to identify potential biomarkers for mental disorders, including major depression. We will conduct an updated systematic review and meta-analysis on eye-tracking research in adults with major depressive disorder or other clinically diagnosed depressive disorders., Methods and Analysis: This protocol follows all reporting items in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocol extension. We will conduct a systematic search of PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar and EMBASE for sources published up until March 2023. Abstract and full-text review will be completed independently by two reviewers. Non-randomised studies using eye movement tasks in individuals with a depressive disorder versus controls will be included. Eye movement tasks of interest include, but are not limited to, saccade, smooth pursuit, fixation, free-viewing, attentional disengagement, visual search and attentional blink tasks. Results will be categorised by eye movement task. Risk of bias will be assessed using the National Institutes of Health Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies and confidence in cumulative evidence will be assessed using Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation criteria., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethics approval is not required due to the nature of the proposed analysis. Results will be disseminated through a journal article, conference presentations and/or dissertations., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)