ArticlePublisher preview available

Visuo-oculomotor skills related to the visual demands of sporting environments

January 2017
Experimental Brain Research 235(1):269–277

DOI:10.1007/s00221-016-4793-3

Authors:

Hadrien Ceyte

Aix-Marseille University

Sébastien Caudron

Grenoble Alpes University

Philippe Perrin

University of Lorraine

Show all 5 authorsHide

The aim of this study was to assess the visuo-oculomotor skills of gaze orientation in selected sport activities relative to visual demands of the sporting environment. Both temporal and spatial demands of the sporting environment were investigated: The latency and accuracy of horizontal saccades and the gain of the horizontal smooth pursuit of the sporting environment were investigated in 16 fencers, 19 tennis players, 12 gymnasts, 9 swimmers and 18 sedentary participants. For the saccade test, two sequences were tested: In the fixed sequence, participants knew in advance the time interval between each target, as well as the direction and the amplitude of its reappearance; in the Freyss sequence however, the spatial changes of the target (direction and amplitude) were known in advance by participants but the time interval between each target was unknown. For the smooth-pursuit test, participants were instructed to smoothly track a target moving in a predictable sinusoidal, horizontal way without corrective ocular saccades, nor via anticipation or head movements. The results showed no significant differences between specificities of selected sporting activities via the saccade latency (although shorter than in non-athletes), contrary to saccade accuracy and the gain of smooth pursuit. Higher saccade accuracy was observed overall in fencers compared to non-athletes and all other sportsmen with the exception of tennis players. In the smooth pursuit task, only tennis players presented a significantly higher gain compared to non-athletes and gymnasts. These sport-specific characteristics of the visuo-oculomotor skills are discussed with regard to the different cognitive skills such as attentional allocation and cue utilization ability as well as with regard to the difference in motor preparation. More information: http://rdcu.be/kJuq

Saccadic test: median results associated with the first and the third quartiles, of latency in ms (a) and accuracy in percentage (b) in fixed sequence and Freyss sequence observed in tennis, fencing, gymnastics, swimming and control groups. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001

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Smooth-pursuit test: median results associated with the first and the third quartiles of gain in smooth-pursuit eye movements observed in tennis, fencing, gymnastics, swimming and control groups. *p < 0.05

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Exp Brain Res (2017) 235:269–277

DOI 10.1007/s00221-016-4793-3

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Visuo‑oculomotor skills related to the visual demands of sporting

environments

Hadrien Ceyte1,2 · Alexis Lion2,3 · Sébastien Caudron1,2 · Philippe Perrin1,2,4 ·

Gérome C. Gauchard1,2

Received: 29 December 2015 / Accepted: 29 September 2016 / Published online: 4 October 2016

accuracy and the gain of smooth pursuit. Higher saccade

accuracy was observed overall in fencers compared to non-

athletes and all other sportsmen with the exception of ten-

nis players. In the smooth-pursuit task, only tennis players

presented a signiﬁcantly higher gain compared to non-ath-

letes and gymnasts. These sport-speciﬁc characteristics of

the visuo-oculomotor skills are discussed with regard to the

different cognitive skills such as attentional allocation and

cue utilization ability as well as with regard to the differ-

ence in motor preparation.

Keywords Visuo-oculomotor skills · Sporting activity ·

Saccade · Smooth pursuit

Introduction

Gaze control is characterized by two processes: gaze sta-

bilization through ocular reﬂexes from vestibular, visual

or cervical origin and gaze orientation through ocular sac-

cades and smooth-pursuit mechanisms. During gaze ori-

entation, the visuo-oculomotor system uses a combination

of saccadic and smooth-pursuit eye movements in order to

center the image of the object of interest on the retina.

Although many sporting activities require efﬁcient gaze

orientation, the effect of practice on the visuo-oculomotor

skills remains unclear. Several seminal works found no dif-

ference between athletes and non-athletes on measures of

oculomotor efﬁciency (Falkowitz and Mendel 1977), sac-

cadic response time (Shank and Haywood 1987) and ocu-

lomotor balance (Blundell 1984). A possible explanation

of this absence of distinction between athletes and non-ath-

letes on gaze orientation could reside in the type of visuo-

oculomotor task chosen and the difﬁculty level of the vis-

ual task used. Conversely, more recent studies have shown

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the visuo-

oculomotor skills of gaze orientation in selected sport activ-

ities relative to visual demands of the sporting environment.

Both temporal and spatial demands of the sporting envi-

ronment were investigated: The latency and accuracy of

horizontal saccades and the gain of the horizontal smooth

pursuit of the sporting environment were investigated in

16 fencers, 19 tennis players, 12 gymnasts, 9 swimmers

and 18 sedentary participants. For the saccade test, two

sequences were tested: In the ﬁxed sequence, participants

knew in advance the time interval between each target, as

well as the direction and the amplitude of its reappearance;

in the Freyss sequence however, the spatial changes of the

target (direction and amplitude) were known in advance by

participants but the time interval between each target was

unknown. For the smooth-pursuit test, participants were

instructed to smoothly track a target moving in a predict-

able sinusoidal, horizontal way without corrective ocular

saccades, nor via anticipation or head movements. The

results showed no signiﬁcant differences between speciﬁci-

ties of selected sporting activities via the saccade latency

(although shorter than in non-athletes), contrary to saccade

* Alexis Lion

alexis.lion@lih.lu

1 UFR-STAPS, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Université de

Lorraine, 54603 Villers-lès-Nancy, France

2 EA 3450 DevAH « Development, Adaptation

and Disability», Université de Lorraine,

54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France

3 Sports Medicine Research Laboratory, Luxembourg Institute

of Health, 76 Rue d’Eich, 1460 Luxembourg, Luxembourg

4 Service d’ORL Pédiatrique, Centre Hospitalier Régional et

Universitaire de Nancy, 54500 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, France

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