DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Changes in saccadic eye movement and memory function after mild closed head injury in children ANDREA PHILLIPOU 1
| JACINTA DOUGLAS 2 | DAVID KRIESER 3 | LAUREN AYTON 4 | LARRY ABEL 1
1 Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic.; 2 Department of Human Communication Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Vic.; 3 Paediatric Emergency, Sunshine Hospital, Melbourne, Vic.; 4 Centre for Eye Research Australia, Melbourne, Vic., Australia. Correspondence to Larry Abel, Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia. E-mail:
[email protected] This article is commented on by Castelli on pages 298–299 of this issue.
PUBLICATION DATA
Accepted for publication 11th October 2013. Published online 19th December 2013 ABBREVIATIONS
BRIEF ImPACT
mCHI mTBI PPVT-4
Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function Immediate post-concussion assessment and cognitive testing Mild closed head injury Mild traumatic brain injury Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, 4th edition
AIM The aim of this study was to determine whether volitional saccadic impairments are present in children with mild closed head injury (mCHI) and whether these deficits are predictive of ongoing cognitive impairment. METHOD We analysed a sample of 26 children with mCHI (20 males, 6 females; mean age 13y 1mo, SD 2y) and 29 age-matched comparison children (20 males, 9 females; mean age 12y 2mo, SD 2y). Participants completed a battery of saccadic eye movement tasks and a set of computer-based cognitive tasks at three time points: within 2 weeks of mCHI, and at 3 months and 6 months. RESULTS The group with mCHI made fewer errors on the antisaccade task at the first time point and showed increased latencies on prosaccades, correct antisaccades, and corrected antisaccade errors at the third time point (6mo). The group with mCHI also showed poorer performance on the cognitive tasks assessing memory. INTERPRETATION Even very mild, uncomplicated mCHI in children may persistently affect aspects of executive control and visual processing.
Mild closed head injury (mCHI), or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), occurs when a blow to the head or a forceful motion of the head leads to brief loss of consciousness (
