title: Saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements attenuate postural sway similarly.
abstract: Saccadic eye movements reduce body sway, yet visually pursuing a moving dot seems to increase body sway. However, how these two types of eye movements affect postural control remains ambiguous, particularly for smooth pursuit eye movements. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of saccade and smooth pursuit eye movements on body sway magnitude during low and high frequencies. Ten young adults (19.5 ± 1.9 years) participants were required to stand upright, barefoot for 70s using a bipedal stance, with feet hip width apart, fixating or pursuing a target that was displayed on a monitor positioned 100 cm away from their eyes. Each participant performed three trials using both types of eye movements, in particular, slow and fast saccades, and slow and fast smooth pursuit movements. Body sway was obtained using reflective markers attached to a participant's head and trunk, which were recorded by two video cameras. The results indicated that body sway was reduced during both saccadic eye movements and smooth pursuit movements when compared to fixation, independent of visual frequencies. These results suggested similarities in the control of saccades and smooth pursuit on postural control.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Information, Vision, and Action (LIVIA), Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Sciences, University of São Paulo State, Bauru Campus, Av. Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube, 14-01, Vargem Limpa, 17033-360 Bauru, SP, Brazil; Graduate Program in Design, Faculty of Architecture, Arts, and Communication, University of São Paulo State, Bauru Campus, Bauru, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: srodrigu@fc.unesp.br.
authors.forename: Sérgio Tosi
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Information, Vision, and Action (LIVIA), Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Sciences, University of São Paulo State, Bauru Campus, Av. Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube, 14-01, Vargem Limpa, 17033-360 Bauru, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paula Fávaro
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Polastri
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Information, Vision, and Action (LIVIA), Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Sciences, University of São Paulo State, Bauru Campus, Av. Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube, 14-01, Vargem Limpa, 17033-360 Bauru, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jamile Cristina
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo State, Rio Claro Campus, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil; Graduate Program in Human Movement Science, Institute of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, Cruzeiro do Sul University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Angelo
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Barela
authors.affiliation: School of Physical Education and Sport at Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moraes
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Information, Vision, and Action (LIVIA), Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Sciences, University of São Paulo State, Bauru Campus, Av. Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube, 14-01, Vargem Limpa, 17033-360 Bauru, SP, Brazil; Graduate Program in Motricity Sciences, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo State, Rio Claro Campus, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabio Augusto
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Barbieri
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D004856:Postural Balance; D011698:Pursuit, Smooth; D012438:Saccades; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Eye movements; Postural control; Saccades; Smooth pursuit