Eye tracking, which records where subjects focus when watching visual displays, could diagnose brain disorders more accurately than subjective questionnaires or medical examinations do, researchers believe.
To make sense of all that people see, the brain filters huge amounts of visual information, fills in gaps and focuses on certain objects.
That complex task uses many mental circuits, so differences in what people choose to look at - differences so subtle that only a computer can spot them - could provide unprecedented insight into common neurological problems, Livescience reported.
"Eye tracking is a great way to assess somebody's spontaneous attention and preference. That's really fundamental to who you are as a person," said Karen Pierce, a researcher at the University of California, San Diego, Autism School of Excellence.
Pierce's team recently created a one-minute screening test to identify autism in high-risk kids. Toddlers watched two videos play simultaneously