Sensory input from the moving hand influences saccadic eye movements during reading. 2005

Vanjare Harshad Arvind, and Elizabeth Tharion
Christian Medical College, Vellore, 632002, Tamil Nadu, India. Harshadcmc2002@yahoo.com

Reading involves saccadic eye movements. Measured reading time and the number of mistakes made while reading reflect the speed and accuracy of the saccades in target localization, if all other factors influencing these parameters are kept constant. The observed phenomenon that reading a book is easier when it is held in an individual's hand than when it is not, especially when movement of the reading text occurs while travelling in a vehicle, raises the question of the role of sensory input from the moving arms in guiding saccades in the direction in which the text is moved. To address this question, 12 healthy subjects (6 males and 6 females), aged 19-21 years took part in this study where reading time and the number of mistakes made while reading a non-moving standardized printed text was noted. Similar printed texts were read by the subjects while mechanically moving them at different fixed speeds in the horizontal plane, with and without the subject's arms moving with the text. At each speed, the reading time recorded when the subject's arms moved with the text was significantly lesser than when they did not (P<0.05). The number of mistakes made were significantly more when not moving the arms than when moving them with the text, at higher speed of text movement (P<0.05). The results indicate that sensory input from the passively moving arms guided saccades in the direction of movement of the text during reading.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009068 Movement The act, process, or result of passing from one place or position to another. It differs from LOCOMOTION in that locomotion is restricted to the passing of the whole body from one place to another, while movement encompasses both locomotion but also a change of the position of the whole body or any of its parts. Movement may be used with reference to humans, vertebrate and invertebrate animals, and microorganisms. Differentiate also from MOTOR ACTIVITY, movement associated with behavior. Movements
D011434 Proprioception Sensory functions that transduce stimuli received by proprioceptive receptors in joints, tendons, muscles, and the INNER EAR into neural impulses to be transmitted to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. Proprioception provides sense of stationary positions and movements of one's body parts, and is important in maintaining KINESTHESIA and POSTURAL BALANCE. Labyrinthine Sense,Position Sense,Posture Sense,Sense of Equilibrium,Vestibular Sense,Sense of Position,Equilibrium Sense,Sense, Labyrinthine,Sense, Position,Sense, Posture,Sense, Vestibular
D011597 Psychomotor Performance The coordination of a sensory or ideational (cognitive) process and a motor activity. Perceptual Motor Performance,Sensory Motor Performance,Visual Motor Coordination,Coordination, Visual Motor,Coordinations, Visual Motor,Motor Coordination, Visual,Motor Coordinations, Visual,Motor Performance, Perceptual,Motor Performance, Sensory,Motor Performances, Perceptual,Motor Performances, Sensory,Perceptual Motor Performances,Performance, Perceptual Motor,Performance, Psychomotor,Performance, Sensory Motor,Performances, Perceptual Motor,Performances, Psychomotor,Performances, Sensory Motor,Psychomotor Performances,Sensory Motor Performances,Visual Motor Coordinations
D011932 Reading Acquiring information from text.
D005260 Female Females
D006225 Hand The distal part of the arm beyond the wrist in humans and primates, that includes the palm, fingers, and thumb. Hands
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D012438 Saccades An abrupt voluntary shift in ocular fixation from one point to another, as occurs in reading. Pursuit, Saccadic,Saccadic Eye Movements,Eye Movement, Saccadic,Eye Movements, Saccadic,Movement, Saccadic Eye,Movements, Saccadic Eye,Pursuits, Saccadic,Saccade,Saccadic Eye Movement,Saccadic Pursuit,Saccadic Pursuits

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