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Patterns of change in ocular motor development

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Abstract

This study examined development of pro- and anti-saccadic eye movements in a cross-sequential research design. A hundred and seventeen subjects aged 6–18 years at initial testing were retested 18.9 ± 1.2 months later. Pro- and anti-saccades were elicited under the gap and overlap conditions. We found strong longitudinal developmental effects on all parameters analysed, in particular those derived from the anti-saccade task. These longitudinal changes structurally resembled the cross-sectional age effects observed for the same data. However, the principal component analyses of longitudinal “true” and raw difference scores revealed a stable three-factor solution that was robust to age effects and included (a) an express saccade factor, (b) a variability factor and (c) a factor consisting of direction errors with regular latencies and pro-saccadic RT. Cross-sectional factor analysis, by contrast, merged these two last-mentioned factors. We thus conclude that longitudinal data can provide unique information regarding individual differences in the patterns of developmental change.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Bangor University, Bangor, UK

    Christoph Klein

  2. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Christoph Klein, Reinhold Rauh & Monica Biscaldi

  3. School of Psychology, University of Wales, The Brigantia Building, Penrallt Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2AS, Wales, UK

    Christoph Klein

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  1. Christoph Klein
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  2. Reinhold Rauh
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  3. Monica Biscaldi
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Correspondence to Christoph Klein.

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This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Kl 985/6-1).

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Klein, C., Rauh, R. & Biscaldi, M. Patterns of change in ocular motor development. Exp Brain Res 210, 33–44 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-011-2601-7

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