Navigating Visual Challenges: How Parkinson's Disease Alters Cognitive Priorities in Visual Search

Objective: Parkinson disease (PD) hampers visual control in tasks such as reading, driving, and navigation. This study explores the impact of contextual visual priors on visual search behavior in PD, examining expectations from past experiences and guiding cognitive processes. Methods: We compared eye movements during a visual search task with complex scenes to evaluate gaze strategies in PD, compared to healthy controls. Results: PD participants prolonged fixation on high-probability areas for the target object, consistent across expected and unexpected locations. The emphasis on visual priors was proven beneficial in expected locations but presented challenges when the target was situated in an unlikely place. Conclusion: These findings indicate that PD alters attention allocation and visual processing by affecting the utilization of contextual visual priors. This study contributes to understanding how PD impacts visual search behavior and cognitive processing, providing insights for potential interventions targeting visual deficits in PD patients. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Clinical Trial NCT05400499 ### Funding Statement Research was funded by US Department of Veterans Affairs. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This research was approved by institutional ethics committee at Cleveland VA Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic Institutional Review Board. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Data will be available to interested party after appropriate institutional formalities are completed between requesting institution and the US Department of Veterans Affairs.