Fixation and Regression Patterns and Processing Time Exhibited by College Athletes with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Compared to Neurotypical College Students During Reading Tasks

College student athletes (CSA) can experience a variety of cognitive symptoms during the early recovery phase of a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) which can affect written text processing and academic performance. Research examining eye movement patterns during the early recovery phase is lacking despite some individuals with chronic mTBI endorsing difficulties reading (Ratiu et al., 2022). Utilizing eye tracking technology to compare CSA with mTBI in the early recovery phase to college students (CS) when reading can reveal eye movement patterns that are unknown during observation. The goal of this study was to examine average forward fixations, regression patterns, processing time and the average fixation duration CSA and CS experience when reading paragraphs. Nine CSAs were matched to nine CS participants in gender, education, and age. Eye movements and processing time were measured using a Tobii Dynavox © Pro Spectrum eye tracker. No significant differences were found between groups for the average number of forward fixations, regressions, and processing time. However, CSA demonstrated significantly longer fixation durations than CS participants. Further research is needed with a larger, more diverse sample to examine possible differences in eye movement patterns and processing time experienced by CSA and CS participants.