Smooth pursuit eye movements in normal and dyslexic children.
This paper describes a detailed study of horizontal eye movements associated with visual tracking of a smoothly moving target. Essentially all children, even at target velocities as low as 5 degrees/sec., show some saccadic eye movements superimposed on smooth tracking movements. Detailed analysis of pursuit eye-movements from a group of 26 poor readers and 34 normal controls (8 to 13 yr.) showed that about 25% of poor readers have an abnormally raised saccadic component in smooth pursuit. This suggests that studies of eye movements during tracking of smoothly moving targets at low velocity, combined with a quantitative approach to data analysis, may be useful for early detection of a significant proportion of poor-reading children.
D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D004585:Electrooculography; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011698:Pursuit, Smooth; D012438:Saccades