Visual Tracking in Development and Aging
A moving target is visually tracked with a combination of smooth pursuit and saccades. Human visual tracking eye movement develops through early childhood and adolescence, and declines in senescence. However, the knowledge regarding performance changes over the life course is based on data from dist...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neurology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2017.00640/full |
| _version_ | 1828519475514703872 |
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| author | Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Lisa A. Spielman Umesh Rajashekar Jamshid Ghajar Jamshid Ghajar |
| author_facet | Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Lisa A. Spielman Umesh Rajashekar Jamshid Ghajar Jamshid Ghajar |
| author_sort | Jun Maruta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A moving target is visually tracked with a combination of smooth pursuit and saccades. Human visual tracking eye movement develops through early childhood and adolescence, and declines in senescence. However, the knowledge regarding performance changes over the life course is based on data from distinct age groups in isolation using different procedures, and thus is fragmented. We sought to describe the age-dependence of visual tracking performance across a wide age range and compare it to that of simple visuo-manual reaction time. We studied a cross-sectional sample of 143 subjects aged 7–82 years old (37% male). Eye movements were recorded using video-oculography, while subjects viewed a computer screen and tracked a small target moving along a circular trajectory at a constant speed. For simple reaction time (SRT) measures, series of key presses that subjects made in reaction to cue presentation on a computer monitor were recorded using a standard software. The positional precision and smooth pursuit velocity gain of visual tracking followed a U-shaped trend over age, with best performances achieved between the ages of 20 and 50 years old. A U-shaped trend was also found for mean reaction time in agreement with the existing literature. Inter-individual variability was evident at any age in both visual tracking and reaction time metrics. Despite the similarity in the overall developmental and aging trend, correlations were not found between visual tracking and reaction time performances after subtracting the effects of age. Furthermore, while a statistically significant difference between the sexes was found for mean SRT in the sample, a similar difference was not found for any of the visual tracking metrics. Therefore, the cognitive constructs and their neural substrates supporting visual tracking and reaction time performances appear largely independent. In summary, age is an important covariate for visual tracking performance, especially for a pediatric population. Since visual tracking performance metrics may provide signatures of abnormal neurological or cognitive states independent of reaction time-based metrics, further understanding of age-dependent variations in normal visual tracking behavior is necessary. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T19:13:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-918f91c08d3a453d83138f88fbcce790 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-2295 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T19:13:57Z |
| publishDate | 2017-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neurology |
| spelling | doaj.art-918f91c08d3a453d83138f88fbcce7902022-12-22T00:53:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952017-11-01810.3389/fneur.2017.00640293314Visual Tracking in Development and AgingJun Maruta0Jun Maruta1Jun Maruta2Lisa A. Spielman3Umesh Rajashekar4Jamshid Ghajar5Jamshid Ghajar6Brain Trauma Foundation, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesDepartment of Rehabilitation Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United StatesBrain Trauma Foundation, New York, NY, United StatesBrain Trauma Foundation, New York, NY, United StatesBrain Trauma Foundation, New York, NY, United StatesDepartment of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesA moving target is visually tracked with a combination of smooth pursuit and saccades. Human visual tracking eye movement develops through early childhood and adolescence, and declines in senescence. However, the knowledge regarding performance changes over the life course is based on data from distinct age groups in isolation using different procedures, and thus is fragmented. We sought to describe the age-dependence of visual tracking performance across a wide age range and compare it to that of simple visuo-manual reaction time. We studied a cross-sectional sample of 143 subjects aged 7–82 years old (37% male). Eye movements were recorded using video-oculography, while subjects viewed a computer screen and tracked a small target moving along a circular trajectory at a constant speed. For simple reaction time (SRT) measures, series of key presses that subjects made in reaction to cue presentation on a computer monitor were recorded using a standard software. The positional precision and smooth pursuit velocity gain of visual tracking followed a U-shaped trend over age, with best performances achieved between the ages of 20 and 50 years old. A U-shaped trend was also found for mean reaction time in agreement with the existing literature. Inter-individual variability was evident at any age in both visual tracking and reaction time metrics. Despite the similarity in the overall developmental and aging trend, correlations were not found between visual tracking and reaction time performances after subtracting the effects of age. Furthermore, while a statistically significant difference between the sexes was found for mean SRT in the sample, a similar difference was not found for any of the visual tracking metrics. Therefore, the cognitive constructs and their neural substrates supporting visual tracking and reaction time performances appear largely independent. In summary, age is an important covariate for visual tracking performance, especially for a pediatric population. Since visual tracking performance metrics may provide signatures of abnormal neurological or cognitive states independent of reaction time-based metrics, further understanding of age-dependent variations in normal visual tracking behavior is necessary.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2017.00640/fullattentioneye movementocular pursuitpediatricsmooth pursuitsaccade |
| spellingShingle | Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Jun Maruta Lisa A. Spielman Umesh Rajashekar Jamshid Ghajar Jamshid Ghajar Visual Tracking in Development and Aging Frontiers in Neurology attention eye movement ocular pursuit pediatric smooth pursuit saccade |
| title | Visual Tracking in Development and Aging |
| title_full | Visual Tracking in Development and Aging |
| title_fullStr | Visual Tracking in Development and Aging |
| title_full_unstemmed | Visual Tracking in Development and Aging |
| title_short | Visual Tracking in Development and Aging |
| title_sort | visual tracking in development and aging |
| topic | attention eye movement ocular pursuit pediatric smooth pursuit saccade |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fneur.2017.00640/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT junmaruta visualtrackingindevelopmentandaging AT junmaruta visualtrackingindevelopmentandaging AT junmaruta visualtrackingindevelopmentandaging AT lisaaspielman visualtrackingindevelopmentandaging AT umeshrajashekar visualtrackingindevelopmentandaging AT jamshidghajar visualtrackingindevelopmentandaging AT jamshidghajar visualtrackingindevelopmentandaging |