Takeaway
Epileptiform activity is associated with transient impairment of attentional performance, which could be predicted by specific patterns of gaze.
Why this matters
Interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) are hypothesized to be one of the underlying mechanisms of attentional disturbances, which are prevalent in children with epilepsy. The strong associations between eye movement and attentional behavior provide a rationale to incorporate eye tracking into the neuropsychological assessment of children with epilepsy.
These findings support increased utilization of visual tracking to index attentional behavior in children with epilepsy, and potentially the broader population of children with attention deficits.