%0 Journal Article
%T Eye Movement Differences in Contact Versus Non-Contact Olympic Athletes.
%A Murray NP
%A Hunfalvay M
%A Mesagno C
%A Trotter B
%A Monsma EV
%A Greenstein E
%A Carrick FR
%J J Mot Behav
%V 0
%N 0
%D 2024 Aug 14
%M 39143821
%F 1.358
%R 10.1080/00222895.2024.2388769
%X The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in oculomotor functioning between Olympic-level contact and non-contact sports participants. In total, 67 male and female Olympic-level contact (n = 27) and non-contact (n = 40) athletes completed oculomotor tasks, including Horizontal Saccade (HS), Circular Smooth Pursuit (CSP), Horizontal Smooth Pursuit (HSP), and Vertical Smooth Pursuit (VSP) using a remote eye tracker. No significant differences for sex or age occurred. Each variable indicated higher scores for contact compared to non-contact athletes (p < .05) except for VSP Pathway differences and CSP Synchronization. A logistic regression was performed to determine the degree that HS measures, CSP synchronization, and VSP pathway predicted sport type. The model was significant, χ2(6) = 37.08, p < .001, explaining 57.4% of the variance and correctly classified 88.1% of cases. The sensitivity was 87.5% and specificity was 88.9%. CSP synchronization did not increase the likelihood of participating in a contact sport. This was the first study to identify oculomotor differences between Olympic athletes of contact and non-contact sports, which adds to the growing evidence that oculomotor functioning may be a reliable, quick, real-time tool to help detect mTBI in sport.