TUESDAY, March 10, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- For veterans with chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), ocular motor control and cognitive performance are persistent coexisting problems, according to a study published online Jan. 21 in the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology.
Jeffrey R. Hebert, Ph.D., P.T., from the Marcus Institute for Brain Health at the University of Colorado in Aurora, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional observational study involving 38 military veterans with chronic mTBI whose most recent TBI was more than three months before enrollment and 40 control veterans without a history of TBI. Veterans in the experimental group had a median of two mTBIs, which occurred about 11 years before the study.
The researchers found that the experimental group had significantly more errors and took significantly more time than the control group (51.32 versus 43.00 seconds) on the computerized King-Devick (K-D) test. For target only, on-target distractor, and ipsilateral proximal distractor paradigms, significantly greater antisaccade latencies were found in the experimental group; for the contralateral proximal distractor paradigm, antisaccade error rates were significantly greater. The experimental group had significantly greater Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 scores and worse FAS scores and Conners' Continuous Performance Test commissions and omissions scores. There was a correlation seen for time since most recent TBI with antisaccade on-target distractor error rates for the experimental group. FAS test scores were a significant determinant of K-D test performance.
"Even when someone feels recovered, their brain may still be working differently behind the scenes, especially during visually demanding tasks and in busy environments," Hebert said in a statement.