Utilizing the Visual System as a Proxy for Brain Function

Over half of brain function is devoted to vision. As such, testing the visual system, including ocular motility, pupillary-light response, and visual acuity allows for real time assessment of global brain function. There is much interest in rapidly detecting patients who experience traumatically-induced transient disturbance of brain function, or mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Current guidelines; for screening include rapid neurocognitive and balance exams (e.g. ImPACT and MACE). Unfortunately, these tests are limited due to effort-dependent performance, confounding variables and reliability. Here, we present our work on a method to screen for mTBI utilizing the visual system as a proxy for evaluation of brain function.