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Reading beyond the glance: eye tracking in neurosciences

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Abstract

From an interdisciplinary approach, the neurosciences (NSs) represent the junction of many fields (biology, chemistry, medicine, computer science, and psychology) and aim to explore the structural and functional aspects of the nervous system. Among modern neurophysiological methods that “measure” different processes of the human brain to salience stimuli, a special place belongs to eye tracking (ET). By detecting eye position, gaze direction, sequence of eye movement and visual adaptation during cognitive activities, ET is an effective tool for experimental psychology and neurological research. It provides a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the gaze, which is very useful in understanding choice behavior and perceptual decision making. In the high tech era, ET has several applications related to the interaction between humans and computers. Herein, ET is used to evaluate the spatial orienting of attention, the performance in visual tasks, the reactions to information on websites, the customer response to advertising, and the emotional and cognitive impact of various spurs to the brain.

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Abbreviations

ACC:

Anterior cingulate cortex

AOI:

Area of interest

AT:

Assistive technology

BCI:

Brain—computer interface

DLPFC:

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

EEG:

Electroencephalography

ET:

Eye tracking

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

HCI:

Human—computer interaction

MEG:

Magnetoencephalography

MOFC:

Medial orbitofrontal cortex

MPFC:

Medial prefrontal cortex

NM:

Neuromarketing

NSs:

Neurosciences

OFC:

Orbitofrontal cortex

PFC:

Prefrontal cortex

pPAR:

Posterior parietal cortex

SERP:

Search engine result page

SPEM:

Smooth pursuit eye movements

TMS:

Transcranial magnetic stimulation

VMPFC:

Ventromedial prefrontal cortex

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Correspondence to Dafin F. Mureşanu.

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Popa, L., Selejan, O., Scott, A. et al. Reading beyond the glance: eye tracking in neurosciences. Neurol Sci 36, 683–688 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-015-2076-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-015-2076-6

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