Eye Movement Performance and Prefrontal Hemodynamics during Saccadic Eye Movements in the Elderly

Abstract

No previous study has investigated age-related changes in prefrontal hemodynamics during saccade tasks in a large number of elderly adults. The purpose of this study was to evaluate prefrontal activity related to the performance of anti-saccade in the elderly using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Ninety-six elderly adults and 22 young adults performed pro-and anti-saccade tasks. Measures included reaction times of both saccades, error rate during anti-saccade, and concentration of oxyhemoglobin (Doxy-Hb) in the prefrontal cortex during both saccades. Saccade performance, especially error rate, was significantly poorer in the elderly than the young. In the elderly, error rates were widely distributed from 5% to 100%. In about half (48%) of the elderly, error rates were distributed under the meanϩ3 standard deviations (48%) for the young, and Doxy-Hb did not differ significantly from that in the young. Elderly subjects whose anti-saccade reaction time was over the regression line (of reaction time in anti-saccade to that in pro-saccade in the young)ϩ2 standard errors showed a strong positive correlation (rϭ0.79) between Doxy-Hb and error rate, as did those whose error rate exceeded 48%. In the elderly subjects whose error rates exceeded 90%, Doxy-Hb was extremely small and deviated greatly from the correlation between Doxy-Hb and error rate. Based on these findings, we propose a method of evaluating inhibitory function and attention allocation in antisaccade performance, which is mainly related to the prefrontal cortex, in the elderly, using NIRS.

Effects of anti-saccade training with neck flexion on eye movement performance, presaccadic potentials and prefrontal hemodynamics in the elderly

“…In all measurements for both groups, Doxy-Hb was significantly increased by performing anti-saccade, consistent with previous findings (Fujiwara et al 2010). It has been reported that Doxy-Hb in the prefrontal cortex was decreased during anti-saccade in elite basketball players, who could presumably perform the saccade automatically through their sporting experience (Fujiwara et al 2009a).…”

“…Mean reaction time (312 ms) and error rate (44%) at the neck resting position before training were similar to the same measurement values for many elderly subjects (reaction time 337 ms, error rate, 48%) and were significantly longer and higher, respectively, than those for young subjects in our previous studies (reaction time 263 ms, t 41 = 3.7; error rate 14%, t 39 = 5.9; p \ 0.001) (Fujiwara et al 2009a(Fujiwara et al , 2010. In both training groups, these measurement values were markedly decreased through training, with patterns of change similar to previous data from young subjects (Deng et al 2009;Dyckman and McDowell 2005).…”

“…Conversely, oxygenated hemoglobin concentration (oxy-Hb), as measured by NIRS, is reportedly the most sensitive marker for task-related hemodynamic changes in the prefrontal cortex, which would be somewhat more localized than presaccadic potentials (Miyai et al 2001;Strangman et al 2002). OxyHb has been reported to increase in the prefrontal cortex during anti-saccade compared with rest for elderly individuals and young non-athletes (Fujiwara et al 2010), but to decrease for elite basketball players who could presumably perform the saccade automatically as a result of their sporting experience (Fujiwara et al 2009a). Changes in oxy-Hb can thus be considered as an index of changes in prefrontal activation related to automatization of antisaccade.…”

Human-Centric Emotion Estimation Based on Correlation Maximization Considering Changes With Time in Visual Attention and Brain Activity

“…Therefore, several studies focus on the relationship between human emotions and fNIRS signals [37]- [39], and we use fNIRS signals with eye gaze data in this study. There have been some studies in which both fNIRS and eye gaze data were used [40]- [42]. Specifically, in order to obtain fNIRS signals, we measure changes in deoxygenated and oxygenated hemoglobin levels from the head cortex by using near-infrared light.…”

Functional brain measurements within the prefrontal area on pseudo-“blindsight” induced by extremely low frequency electromagnetic stimulations

“…[15][16][17] Blindsight-like phosphene perceptions and saccadic eye movements are, however, completely different from each other. In other words, although pseudo-blindsight induced by ELF stimulations is perceived as a conscious perception, the responses of the stimulated eyeball corresponding to the perception (e.g., some eye motions to the appeared phosphene) are an "unconscious" related to the human bioreactivity.…”