Development of internal models and predictive abilities for visual tracking during childhood.
The prediction of the consequences of our own actions through internal models is an essential component of motor control. Previous studies showed improvement of anticipatory behaviors with age for grasping, drawing, and postural control. Since these actions require visual and proprioceptive feedback, these improvements might reflect both the development of internal models and the feedback control. In contrast, visual tracking of a temporarily invisible target gives specific markers of prediction and internal models for eye movements. Therefore, we recorded eye movements in 50 children (aged 5-19 yr) and in 10 adults, who were asked to pursue a visual target that is temporarily blanked. Results show that the youngest children (5-7 yr) have a general oculomotor behavior in this task, qualitatively similar to the one observed in adults. However, the overall performance of older subjects in terms of accuracy at target reappearance and variability in their behavior was much better than the youngest children. This late maturation of predictive mechanisms with age was reflected into the development of the accuracy of the internal models governing the synergy between the saccadic and pursuit systems with age. Altogether, we hypothesize that the maturation of the interaction between smooth pursuit and saccades that relies on internal models of the eye and target displacement is related to the continuous maturation of the cerebellum.
Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium;
Caroline
C
Ego
Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium; Ophthalmology Department, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium; and.
Demet
D
Yüksel
Department of Kinesiology, Movement Control and Neuroplasticity Research Group, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Jean-Jacques
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4603-7939
JJ
Orban de Xivry
Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Institute of Neuroscience, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium; philippe.lefevre@uclouvain.be.
Philippe
P
Lefèvre
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D053483:Eye Movement Measurements; D006801:Humans; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011698:Pursuit, Smooth; D012438:Saccades; D055815:Young Adult
cerebellum; development; occlusion; pursuit; saccades