Assessing for Unilateral Spatial Neglect Using Eye-Tracking Glasses: A Feasibility Study

The aim of this feasibility study was to identify whether eye-tracking glasses could sensitively differentiate unilateral spatial neglect (USN) among a sample of participants who had a stroke, and to determine whether a larger study was viable. A sample of 13 inpatients (N = 7 with neglect, N = 6 without neglect) aged 50-78 years undertook a task while wearing Tobii eye-tracking glasses. The kitchen environment and the task of making a cup of coffee were standardized. Two commonly reported tests for USN, the Bells Test and the Line Crossing Test, were also used as a reference standard for the eye-tracking data. Participants with USN spent significantly more time searching on the right-hand side (p = .006) for items during the task than those without neglect. There was a moderate correlation between eye-tracking data and the Bells Test (r = .622, p = .04). Overall, this study supported the feasibility of using a real-life task with eye-tracking to detect neglect.