Maturation of Temporal Saccade Prediction from Childhood to Adulthood: Predictive Saccades, Reduced Pupil Size, and Blink Synchronization

Abstract

When presented with a periodic stimulus, humans spontaneously adjust their movements from reacting to predicting the timing of its arrival, but little is known about how this sensorimotor adaptation changes across development. To investigate this, we analyzed saccade behavior in 114 healthy humans (ages 6-24 years) performing the visual metronome task, who were instructed to move their eyes in time with a visual target that alternated between two known locations at a fixed rate, and we compared their behavior to performance in a random task, where target onsets were randomized across five interstimulus intervals (ISIs) and thus the timing of appearance was unknown. Saccades initiated before registration of the visual target, thus in anticipation of its appearance, were labeled predictive [saccade reaction time (SRT) , 90 ms] and saccades that were made in reaction to its appearance were labeled reactive (SRT . 90 ms). Eye-tracking behavior including saccadic metrics (e.g., peak velocity, amplitude), pupil size following saccade to target, and blink behavior all varied as a function of predicting or reacting to periodic targets. Compared with reactive saccades, predictive saccades had a lower peak velocity, a hypometric amplitude, smaller pupil size, and a reduced probability of blink occurrence before target appearance. The percentage of predictive and reactive saccades changed inversely from ages 8-16, at which they reached adult-levels of behavior. Differences in predictive saccades for fast and slow target rates are interpreted by differential maturation of cerebellar-thalamic-striatal pathways.

Eye tracking identifies biomarkers in α-synucleinopathies versus progressive supranuclear palsy

“…In structured oculomotor tasks, visually triggered saccades are typically initiated more than 90 ms after target appearance and can be further characterized as express saccades or regular latency saccades [ 32 , 57 ]. Saccades with reaction times < 90 ms are not visually triggered [ 33 , 58 ]. Analogous to the structured pro-saccade task, in FV, saccade triggered < 90 ms after clip change preceded the transient epoch of saccade suppression, and the ensuing rebound in saccade rate represents the shortest latency visually triggered saccades, which could include both express (90–140 ms) and regular (> 140 ms) latency saccades.…”

Interleaved Pro/Anti-saccade Behavior Across the Lifespan

“…In this manner, significant periods of change are identified at the time points where the simultaneous confidence intervals of the first derivative do not contain zero ( p < 0.05). This approach has been adopted in a number of recent studies to identify the ages at which behavioral and brain-based measures undergo significant periods of change ( Simmonds et al, 2014 ; Wierenga et al, 2019 ; Calabro et al, 2020 ; Nook et al, 2020 ; Calancie et al, 2021 ). Here, we follow recent work from Calabro et al (2020) in which posterior simulation was used to generate 10,000 GAM fits and their derivatives at 0.1-year age intervals.…”

“…The conventional linear regression models used in many of these studies, however, may be insufficiently flexible to capture the complex, non-linear trajectories of age-related changes in the brain ( Fjell et al, 2010 ). Semiparametric regression models, such as those that rely on smoothing splines, have been demonstrated to be more robust in this regard ( Fjell et al, 2010 , 2013 ; Nook et al, 2020 ; Sørensen et al, 2021 ), and have recently been used to identify the ages at which various behavioral and brain-based measures undergo significant periods of change ( Simmonds et al, 2014 ; Wierenga et al, 2019 ; Calabro et al, 2020 ; Nook et al, 2020 ; Calancie et al, 2021 ).…”

Application and progress of advanced eye movement examinations in cognitive impairment

“…Pro-saccade involves the cooperative work of several regions in the higher cortex of the brain, such as prefrontal cortex (PFC), FEF, SEF, PEF, etc. ( Calancie et al, 2022 ).…”

“…Subjects are required to shift their gaze to the newly appearing saccade stimulus as rapidly and accurately as possible. This endogenous saccade, produced without the assistance of direct visual information, is called predictive saccade ( Calancie et al, 2022 ).…”