Dataset Information

Effects of visual distractors on vergence eye movements.

ABSTRACT: Visual attention is an important aspect of everyday life, which can be incorporated in the assessment of many diagnoses. Another important characteristic of visual attention is that it can be improved via therapeutic interventions. Fifteen subjects with normal binocular vision were presented with visual distractor stimuli at various spatial locations while initiating disparity vergence eye movements (inward or outward rotation of eyes) within a haploscope system. First, a stationary distractor stimulus was presented in either the far, middle, or near visual spaces while the subjects were instructed to follow a target stimulus that was either stationary, converging (moving toward subject), or diverging (moving away from subject). For the second experiment, a dynamic distractor stimulus within the far, middle, or near visual space that was converging or diverging was presented while the target stimulus was also converging or diverging. The subjects were instructed to visually follow the target stimulus and ignore the distractor stimulus. The vergence responses had a final vergence angle between the target and distractor stimuli which has been termed a center of gravity (CoG) effect. Statistically significant differences were observed between the convergence peak velocities (p < 0.001) and response amplitudes (p < 0.001) comparing responses without distractors to responses with the presence of a vergence distractor. The results support that vergence eye movements are influenced by visual distractors, which is similar to how distractors influence saccadic eye movements. The influence of visual distractors within vergence eye movements may be useful to assess binocular dysfunction and visual distraction which are common post brain injury.

SUBMITTER: Yaramothu C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5987826 | biostudies-other | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Effects of visual distractors on vergence eye movements.

Yaramothu Chang C Santos Elio M EM Alvarez Tara L TL

Journal of vision 20180601 6

Visual attention is an important aspect of everyday life, which can be incorporated in the assessment of many diagnoses. Another important characteristic of visual attention is that it can be improved via therapeutic interventions. Fifteen subjects with normal binocular vision were presented with visual distractor stimuli at various spatial locations while initiating disparity vergence eye movements (inward or outward rotation of eyes) within a haploscope system. First, a stationary distractor s ...[more]

PMID: 30029212

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Project description:BackgroundGlaucoma has been shown to lead to disability in many daily tasks including visual search. This study aims to determine whether the saccadic eye movements of people with glaucoma differ from those of people with normal vision, and to investigate the association between eye movements and impaired visual search.MethodsForty patients (mean age: 67 [SD: 9] years) with a range of glaucomatous visual field (VF) defects in both eyes (mean best eye mean deviation [MD]: -5.9 (SD: 5.4) dB) and 40 age-related people with normal vision (mean age: 66 [SD: 10] years) were timed as they searched for a series of target objects in computer displayed photographs of real world scenes. Eye movements were simultaneously recorded using an eye tracker. Average number of saccades per second, average saccade amplitude and average search duration across trials were recorded. These response variables were compared with measurements of VF and contrast sensitivity.ResultsThe average rate of saccades made by the patient group was significantly smaller than the number made by controls during the visual search task (P = 0.02; mean reduction of 5.6% (95% CI: 0.1 to 10.4%). There was no difference in average saccade amplitude between the patients and the controls (P = 0.09). Average number of saccades was weakly correlated with aspects of visual function, with patients with worse contrast sensitivity (PR logCS; Spearman's rho: 0.42; P = 0.006) and more severe VF defects (best eye MD; Spearman's rho: 0.34; P = 0.037) tending to make less eye movements during the task. Average detection time in the search task was associated with the average rate of saccades in the patient group (Spearman's rho = -0.65; P < 0.001) but this was not apparent in the controls.ConclusionsThe average rate of saccades made during visual search by this group of patients was fewer than those made by people with normal vision of a similar average age. There was wide variability in saccade rate in the patients but there was an association between an increase in this measure and better performance in the search task. Assessment of eye movements in individuals with glaucoma might provide insight into the functional deficits of the disease.

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Effects of visual distractors on vergence eye movements.

Publications

Effects of visual distractors on vergence eye movements.

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