The effect of ocular rigidity upon the characteristics of saccadic eye movements

Mohammed Alhazmi*, Dirk Seidel, Lyle S. Gray

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)
207 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Purpose. To determine whether variation in ocular rigidity (a quantity that describes the elastic properties of the globe) affects the characteristics of horizontal saccadic eye movements. Methods. Thirty-three young, visually healthy subjects participated with informed consent in the study. Axial length was measured using the IOLMaster ocular biometer. Ocular rigidity coefficients were determined using Schiotz tonometry. Horizontal saccades were stimulated randomly to 40° in 10° steps. Eye movements were recorded continuously at a sampling rate of 60 Hz using the Viewpoint video-eyetracker. Results. Peak velocity increased significantly with increasing ocular rigidity (F [2,263] = 30.635, P < 0.001). Time to peak velocity (F [2,263] = 27.723, P < 0.001) and total response time (F [2,263] = 21.133, P < 0.001) decreased significantly with increasing ocular rigidity. Ocular rigidity was significantly positively correlated with peak velocity (R 2 = 0.67, P < 0.001), and significantly negatively correlated with time to peak velocity (R 2 = 0.64, P < 0.001), and total response time (R 2 = 0.62, P < 0.001). Conclusions. The known relationship of ocular rigidity with myopia can be extended to shorter hyperopic eyes, which are found to have higher ocular rigidity. The dynamic characteristics of saccadic eye movements are found to vary systematically with ocular rigidity. These findings suggest that the structural characteristics of the eye are an important factor in determining dynamic characteristics of eye movements.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1251-1258
Number of pages8
JournalInvestigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science
Volume55
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Mar 2014

Keywords

  • ocular rigidity, axial length, saccadic eye movements, peak velocity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Optometry
  • Ophthalmology
  • Neuroscience (miscellaneous)

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