DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/HTE4-1Z39
Defense Date
2009
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Biomedical Engineering
First Advisor
Paul Wetzel
Abstract
There have been few studies investigating the eye movement behavior of Parkinson’s disease patients during fixation. This study objectively measured the eye movements of 36 patients with Parkinson’s disease, and 20 age matched controls. Stimuli consisted of ten standardized text passages first organized by Miller and Coleman. In addition, subjects followed a randomly displaced step jump target motion. Pendular nystagmus was found in all Parkinson’s subjects, with an average frequency of 7.44 Hz. Saccadic peak velocity and duration along the main sequence were not statistically different from controls. A slower rate of reading was also noted in the Parkinson’s group in terms of characters per minute, but with no more regressions than normal. Rate of square wave jerks was also found to be normal. This suggests that the hallmark feature of eye movements in Parkinson’s disease is a pendular nystagmus during fixation, and all saccadic activity to be normal.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
May 2010