Increased attention to the eye region when playing background music in Alzheimer's disease: a remotely-delivered webcam eye-tracking feasibility study

Music modulates dwell-times on discriminating facial features (e.g. eyes) and rumination levels modulate visual attention/responses to music. As these factors are understudied in dementia, particularly in non-care settings, home-based music research with webcam-based eye tracking (WBET) was explored...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anne-Marie Greenaway, Faustina Hwang, Slawomir Nasuto, Aileen K. Ho
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Cogent Gerontology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/28324897.2025.2484211
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849770355230507008
author Anne-Marie Greenaway
Faustina Hwang
Slawomir Nasuto
Aileen K. Ho
author_facet Anne-Marie Greenaway
Faustina Hwang
Slawomir Nasuto
Aileen K. Ho
author_sort Anne-Marie Greenaway
collection DOAJ
description Music modulates dwell-times on discriminating facial features (e.g. eyes) and rumination levels modulate visual attention/responses to music. As these factors are understudied in dementia, particularly in non-care settings, home-based music research with webcam-based eye tracking (WBET) was explored. Participants completed online self-report mood/rumination measures and a cognitive status interview. In silence and then with background music, participants fixated on a cross, naturally viewed emotional-neutral facial pairings, and then fixated on a dot. Percentage dwell-time on emotional faces, and the top-half versus bottom-half of these images was examined and changes were registered by the eye tracker during the music condition. WBET use was feasible (i.e. full datasets were collected for both conditions) for 39% of the participants. Data could not be collected from 33% of the participants due to initial calibration failures attributed to head movement and/or blinking, and face detection and internet connection issues. All other issues could be resolved remotely with assistance. In conclusion, WBET use in music-based research is feasible and provides access to eye-tracking studies for some individuals. The large amount of data/participant loss should be considered in sample size calculations. Practical recommendations, preliminary data, and hypotheses based on these data are provided for future research.
format Article
id doaj-art-5cf61c2fe6b9420aa5cc1097fe5beede
institution DOAJ
issn 2832-4897
language English
publishDate 2025-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Cogent Gerontology
spelling doaj-art-5cf61c2fe6b9420aa5cc1097fe5beede2025-08-20T03:03:03ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Gerontology2832-48972025-12-014110.1080/28324897.2025.2484211Increased attention to the eye region when playing background music in Alzheimer's disease: a remotely-delivered webcam eye-tracking feasibility studyAnne-Marie Greenaway0Faustina Hwang1Slawomir Nasuto2Aileen K. Ho3Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire, UKBiomedical Engineering, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire, UKBiomedical Engineering, School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire, UKSchool of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Berkshire, UKMusic modulates dwell-times on discriminating facial features (e.g. eyes) and rumination levels modulate visual attention/responses to music. As these factors are understudied in dementia, particularly in non-care settings, home-based music research with webcam-based eye tracking (WBET) was explored. Participants completed online self-report mood/rumination measures and a cognitive status interview. In silence and then with background music, participants fixated on a cross, naturally viewed emotional-neutral facial pairings, and then fixated on a dot. Percentage dwell-time on emotional faces, and the top-half versus bottom-half of these images was examined and changes were registered by the eye tracker during the music condition. WBET use was feasible (i.e. full datasets were collected for both conditions) for 39% of the participants. Data could not be collected from 33% of the participants due to initial calibration failures attributed to head movement and/or blinking, and face detection and internet connection issues. All other issues could be resolved remotely with assistance. In conclusion, WBET use in music-based research is feasible and provides access to eye-tracking studies for some individuals. The large amount of data/participant loss should be considered in sample size calculations. Practical recommendations, preliminary data, and hypotheses based on these data are provided for future research.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/28324897.2025.2484211Alzheimer’s diseaseattentional biasesanxietydepressionruminationY4
spellingShingle Anne-Marie Greenaway
Faustina Hwang
Slawomir Nasuto
Aileen K. Ho
Increased attention to the eye region when playing background music in Alzheimer's disease: a remotely-delivered webcam eye-tracking feasibility study
Cogent Gerontology
Alzheimer’s disease
attentional biases
anxiety
depression
rumination
Y4
title Increased attention to the eye region when playing background music in Alzheimer's disease: a remotely-delivered webcam eye-tracking feasibility study
title_full Increased attention to the eye region when playing background music in Alzheimer's disease: a remotely-delivered webcam eye-tracking feasibility study
title_fullStr Increased attention to the eye region when playing background music in Alzheimer's disease: a remotely-delivered webcam eye-tracking feasibility study
title_full_unstemmed Increased attention to the eye region when playing background music in Alzheimer's disease: a remotely-delivered webcam eye-tracking feasibility study
title_short Increased attention to the eye region when playing background music in Alzheimer's disease: a remotely-delivered webcam eye-tracking feasibility study
title_sort increased attention to the eye region when playing background music in alzheimer s disease a remotely delivered webcam eye tracking feasibility study
topic Alzheimer’s disease
attentional biases
anxiety
depression
rumination
Y4
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/28324897.2025.2484211
work_keys_str_mv AT annemariegreenaway increasedattentiontotheeyeregionwhenplayingbackgroundmusicinalzheimersdiseasearemotelydeliveredwebcameyetrackingfeasibilitystudy
AT faustinahwang increasedattentiontotheeyeregionwhenplayingbackgroundmusicinalzheimersdiseasearemotelydeliveredwebcameyetrackingfeasibilitystudy
AT slawomirnasuto increasedattentiontotheeyeregionwhenplayingbackgroundmusicinalzheimersdiseasearemotelydeliveredwebcameyetrackingfeasibilitystudy
AT aileenkho increasedattentiontotheeyeregionwhenplayingbackgroundmusicinalzheimersdiseasearemotelydeliveredwebcameyetrackingfeasibilitystudy