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. 2021 Dec 24;12(1):19.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci12010019.

Evaluation of Fixational Behavior throughout Life

Irene Altemir  1   2 , Adrian Alejandre  3 , Alvaro Fanlo-Zarazaga  1   2   3 , Marta Ortín  3 , Teresa Pérez  2 , Belén Masiá  4 , Victoria Pueyo  2
Affiliations

Evaluation of Fixational Behavior throughout Life

Irene Altemir et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Background: To quantify development of gaze stability throughout life during short and long fixational tasks using eye tracking technology.

Methods: Two hundred and fifty-nine participants aged between 5 months and 77 years were recruited along the study. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmological assessment. Fixational behavior during long and short fixational tasks was analyzed using a DIVE (Device for an Integral Visual Examination), a digital test assisted with eye tracking technology. The participants were divided into ten groups according to their age. Group 1, 0-2 years; group 2, 2-5 years; group 3, 5-10 years; group 4, 10-20 years; group 5, 20-30 years; group 6, 30-40 years; group 7, 40-50 years; group 8, 50-60 years; group 9, 60-70 years; and group 10, over 70 years.

Results: Gaze stability, assessed by logBCEA (log-transformed bivariate contour ellipse area), improved with age from 5 months to 30 years (1.27 vs. 0.57 deg2 for long fixational task, 0.73 vs. -0.04 deg2 for short fixational task), while fixations tend to be longer (1.95 vs. 2.80 msec for long fixational tasks and 0.80 vs. 1.71 msec for short fixational tasks). All fixational outcomes worsened progressively from the fifth decade of life. Log-transformed bivariate contour ellipse area (0.79, 0.83, 0.91, 1.42 deg2 for long fixational task and 0.01, 0.18, 0.28, 0.44 deg2 for short fixational task, for group 7, 8, 9, and 10 respectively). Stimuli features may influence oculomotor performance, with smaller stimuli providing prolonged fixations.

Conclusions: Fixational behavior can be accurately assessed from 5 months of age using a DIVE. We report normative data of gaze stability and duration of fixations for every age group. Currently available technology may increase the accuracy of our visual assessments at any age.

Keywords: eye tracking; gaze stability; visual development; visual fixation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Marta Ortín, Belén Masiá and Victoria Pueyo are co-founders of Dive Medical. The rest of the authors declare no conflict of interest. Funding sources are not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, or writing of the study report.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representation of the device.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Representation of the fixation on visual stimulus of one study participant with the plot of the bivariate contour ellipse area (BCEA).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scatterplots representing (a) median duration of fixation with long fixational task, (b) fixation stability with long fixational task, (c) median duration of fixation with short fixational task, (d) fixation stability with short fixational task, outcomes plotted against age. Legend: From bottom to top, the first green line corresponds to P05, the blue one to P10, the red line corresponds to the one that best fits the model (P50), the second blue line to the P90, and the second green line to P95.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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