1Visual input is highly relevant for safely stepping over obstacles. In this study, gaze-2 behaviour was investigated in elderly, middle-aged and young subjects as they walked on 3 a treadmill repeatedly stepping over obstacles, which approached either on the right or 4 left side. In between obstacle-steps, subjects visually fixated a target N or F located two 5 or four steps ahead on the floor, respectively. An acoustic warning signal announced the 6 obstacles, after which subjects were free to look wherever they wanted. Gaze-movements 7were measured by video-oculography. Four conditions with 20 obstacles were conducted 8 (two with target N, two with target F). In two conditions, high-precision stepping was 9 investigated by asking subjects to step with minimal foot-clearance over the obstacles, 10 while receiving acoustic feedback about their performance. In the high-precision 11 conditions, more subjects (target N: 70%, target F: 81%) turned their gaze on the 12 obstacles and for a longer time than in unrestricted conditions. When fixating on the near 13 target N and unrestricted stepping over the obstacles, significantly more elderly subjects 14 (85%) turned their gaze on the obstacle compared to middle-aged (17%) and young 15 subjects (29%).The elderly turned their gaze earlier and longer on the obstacle than 16 middle-aged or young subjects. Our results reveal a different gaze-behaviour strategy of 17 elderly subjects suggesting a greater dependency on visual inputs.
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