Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose:Auditory biofeedback has been previously used to influence both pathological eye movements such as congenital nystagmus and physiological eye movements such as optokinetic nystagmus. We have developed of a new method to provide tactile and kinaesthetic biofeedback of eye movements. We have investigated the effect of auditory, kinaesthetic and tactile feedback upon antisaccadic performance in normal subjects. Methods:Eye movements were recorded from fifteen subjects using a high–resolution infrared pupil tracker (EyeLink, Sensomotoric instruments). On–line eye movement recordings were used to drive either an auditory signal, a moving handle gripped with the fingers (kinaesthetic feedback) or a ribbed wheel moving across the digit tips (tactile feedback). The subjects performed an antisaccadic tasks (looking in the opposite direction to a saccadic target) when auditory, kinaesthetic or tactile feedback was provided or with no feedback. The number of errors was calculated in each condition Results:Auditory feedback significantly reduced the number of errors made during the antisaccadic task compared to no feedback (P<0.05) whereas kinaesthetic and tactile feedback had no significant effect. Conclusions:Auditory feedback significantly improves antisaccadic performance in control subjects while kinaesthetic and tactile feedback does not significantly improve performance.
Keywords: eye movements: saccades and pursuits • ocular motor control • neuro–ophthalmology: cortical function/rehabilitation