Leveraging Eye-tracking and AI technologies to monitor brain health

The neural circuitry controlling eye movements is one of the most studied circuits in the brain, with pathways encompassing regions from the frontal cortex to the medulla. Neurological disorders disrupts a subset of this circuitry, resulting in specific alterations to eye behaviors. Dynamiris Inc. combines decades of eye-movement research, state-of-the-art eye-tracking technology, and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop a non-invasive, objective, and sensitive tool to classify neurological disorders. Our initial focus is on Parkinson's Disease and other Parkinsonian disorders, but this technology can be used in monitoring a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders. See our publications below to learn more!

Selected Publications

Eye-tracking

Yep, R., Smorenburg, M. L., Riek, H. C., Calancie, O. G., Kirkpatrick, R. H., Perkins, J. E., ... & Munoz, D. P. (2022). Interleaved Pro/Anti-saccade Behavior Across the Lifespan. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 521.

Wang, C. A., Huang, J., Brien, D. C., & Munoz, D. P. (2020). Saliency and priority modulation in a pop-out paradigm: pupil size and microsaccades. Biological Psychology, 153, 107901.

Fernandez-Ruiz, J., Peltsch, A., Alahyane, N., Brien, D. C., Coe, B. C., Garcia, A., & Munoz, D. P. (2018). Age related prefrontal compensatory mechanisms for inhibitory control in the antisaccade task. Neuroimage, 165, 92-101.

Parkinson's Disease

Brien, D. C., Riek, H. C., Yep, R., Huang, J., Coe, B., Areshenkoff, C., ... & ONDRI Investigators. (2023). Classification and staging of Parkinson's disease using video-based eye tracking. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, 110, 105316.

Habibi, M., Oertel, W. H., White, B. J., Brien, D. C., Coe, B. C., Riek, H. C., ... & Munoz, D. P. (2022). Eye tracking identifies biomarkers in α-synucleinopathies versus progressive supranuclear palsy. Journal of Neurology, 1-19.

Perkins, J. E., Janzen, A., Bernhard, F. P., Wilhelm, K., Brien, D. C., Huang, J., ... & Oertel, W. H. (2021). Saccade, pupil, and blink responses in rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder. Movement Disorders, 36(7), 1720-1726.

Wang, C. A., McInnis, H., Brien, D. C., Pari, G., & Munoz, D. P. (2016). Disruption of pupil size modulation correlates with voluntary motor preparation deficits in Parkinson's disease. Neuropsychologia, 80, 176-184.

Cameron, I. G., Brien, D. C., Links, K., Robichaud, S., Ryan, J. D., Munoz, D. P., & Chow, T. W. (2013). Changes to saccade behaviors in Parkinson’s disease following dancing and observation of dancing. Frontiers in neurology, 4, 22.

Cameron, I. G., Pari, G., Alahyane, N., Brien, D. C., Coe, B. C., Stroman, P. W., & Munoz, D. P. (2012). Impaired executive function signals in motor brain regions in Parkinson's disease. Neuroimage, 60(2), 1156-1170.

Cameron, I. G., Watanabe, M., Pari, G., & Munoz, D. P. (2010). Executive impairment in Parkinson's disease: response automaticity and task switching. Neuropsychologia, 48(7), 1948-1957.

Chan, F., Armstrong, I. T., Pari, G., Riopelle, R. J., & Munoz, D. P. (2005). Deficits in saccadic eye-movement control in Parkinson's disease. Neuropsychologia, 43(5), 784-796.

Alzheimer's Disease

Peltsch, A., Hemraj, A., Garcia, A., & Munoz, D. P. (2014). Saccade deficits in amnestic mild cognitive impairment resemble mild Alzheimer's disease. European Journal of Neuroscience, 39(11), 2000-2013.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Fernandez-Ruiz, J., Hakvoort Schwerdtfeger, R. M., Alahyane, N., Brien, D. C., Coe, B. C., & Munoz, D. P. (2020). Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex hyperactivity during inhibitory control in children with ADHD in the antisaccade task. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 14(6), 2450-2463.

Yep, R., Soncin, S., Brien, D. C., Coe, B. C., Marin, A., & Munoz, D. P. (2018). Using an emotional saccade task to characterize executive functioning and emotion processing in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder. Brain and cognition, 124, 1-13.

Soncin, S. (2015). Contrasting emotion processing and response inhibition deficits in ADHD and bipolar disorder (Doctoral dissertation, Queen's University (Canada)).

Schwerdtfeger, R. M. H., Alahyane, N., Brien, D. C., Coe, B. C., Stroman, P. W., & Munoz, D. P. (2013). Preparatory neural networks are impaired in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during the antisaccade task. NeuroImage: Clinical, 2, 63-78.

Armstrong, I. T., & Munoz, D. P. (2003). Attentional blink in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Experimental Brain Research, 152(2), 243-250.

Armstrong, I. T., & Munoz, D. P. (2003). Inhibitory control of eye movements during oculomotor countermanding in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Experimental Brain Research, 152(4), 444-452.

Munoz, D. P., Armstrong, I. T., Hampton, K. A., & Moore, K. D. (2003). Altered control of visual fixation and saccadic eye movements in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Journal of neurophysiology, 90(1), 503-514.

Huntington's Disease

Vaca-Palomares, I., Brien, D. C., Coe, B. C., Ochoa-Morales, A., Martínez-Ruano, L., Munoz, D. P., & Fernandez-Ruiz, J. (2019). Implicit learning impairment identified via predictive saccades in Huntington's disease correlates with extended cortico-striatal atrophy. Cortex, 121, 89-103.

Vaca-Palomares, I., Coe, B. C., Brien, D. C., Campos-Romo, A., Munoz, D. P., & Fernandez-Ruiz, J. (2017). Voluntary saccade inhibition deficits correlate with extended white-matter cortico-basal atrophy in Huntington's disease. NeuroImage: Clinical, 15, 502-512.

Peltsch, A., Hoffman, A., Armstrong, I., Pari, G., & Munoz, D. P. (2008). Saccadic impairments in Huntington’s disease. Experimental brain research, 186(3), 457-469.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Zhang, C., Paolozza, A., Tseng, P. H., Reynolds, J. N., Munoz, D. P., & Itti, L. (2019). Detection of children/youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder through eye movement, psychometric, and neuroimaging data. Frontiers in neurology, 10, 80.

Paolozza, A., Munoz, D. P., Brien, D., & Reynolds, J. N. (2016). Immediate neural plasticity involving reaction time in a saccadic eye movement task is intact in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 40(11), 2351-2358.

Paolozza, A., Munn, R., Munoz, D. P., & Reynolds, J. N. (2015). Eye movements reveal sexually dimorphic deficits in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Frontiers in neuroscience, 9, 76.

Tseng, P. H., Paolozza, A., Munoz, D. P., Reynolds, J. N., & Itti, L. (2013, October). Deep learning on natural viewing behaviors to differentiate children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. In International conference on intelligent data engineering and automated learning (pp. 178-185). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Paolozza, A., Titman, R., Brien, D., Munoz, D. P., & Reynolds, J. N. (2013). Altered accuracy of saccadic eye movements in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37(9), 1491-1498.

Green, C. R., Mihic, A. M., Brien, D. C., Armstrong, I. T., Nikkel, S. M., Stade, B. C., ... & Reynolds, J. N. (2009). Oculomotor control in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders assessed using a mobile eye‐tracking laboratory. European Journal of Neuroscience, 29(6), 1302-1309.

Green, C. R., Munoz, D. P., Nikkel, S. M., & Reynolds, J. N. (2007). Deficits in eye movement control in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Alcoholism: clinical and experimental research, 31(3), 500-511.

Dyslexia

Al Dahhan, N. Z., Kirby, J. R., Brien, D. C., & Munoz, D. P. (2017). Eye movements and articulations during a letter naming speed task: children with and without dyslexia. Journal of Learning disabilities, 50(3), 275-285.

Al Dahhan, N. Z., Kirby, J. R., Brien, D. C., Gupta, R., Harrison, A., & Munoz, D. P. (2020). Understanding the biological basis of dyslexia at a neural systems level. Brain communications, 2(2), fcaa173.

Easson, K., Al Dahhan, N. Z., Brien, D. C., Kirby, J. R., & Munoz, D. P. (2020). Developmental trends of visual processing of letters and objects using naming speed tasks. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14, 562712.

Other Disorders

Witiuk, K., Fernandez-Ruiz, J., McKee, R., Alahyane, N., Coe, B. C., Melanson, M., & Munoz, D. P. (2014). Cognitive deterioration and functional compensation in ALS measured with fMRI using an inhibitory task. Journal of Neuroscience, 34(43), 14260-14271.

Tseng, P. H., Cameron, I. G., Pari, G., Reynolds, J. N., Munoz, D. P., & Itti, L. (2013). High-throughput classification of clinical populations from natural viewing eye movements. Journal of neurology, 260(1), 275-284.

LeVasseur, A. L., Flanagan, J. R., Riopelle, R. J., & Munoz, D. P. (2001). Control of volitional and reflexive saccades in Tourette's syndrome. Brain, 124(10), 2045-2058.