Smooth pursuit in 1- to 4-month-old human infants

• Published in: Vision research (Oxford) Vol. 37; no. 21; pp. 3009 - 3020
• Main Authors: Phillips, James O., Finocchio, Dom V., Ong, Luan, Fuchs, Albert F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-11-1997; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Aging - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Developmental psychology; Electrooculography; EOG; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Infant; Newborn. Infant; Oculomotor; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Pursuit, Smooth - physiology; Reaction Time; Saccades; Saccades - physiology; Smooth pursuit; Oculomotor; Smooth pursuit; Saccades; Infant; EOG; Human; Position; Experimental study; Pursuit eye movement; Saccadic eye movement; Eye; Visual system; Visual stimulus; Vision; Perception; Developmental stage; Motricity; Age; Response stimulus relation
• ISSN: 0042-6989; 1878-5646
• DOI: 10.1016/S0042-6989(97)00107-7

The ability of human infants ≤4 months of age to pursue objects smoothly with their eyes was assessed by presenting small target spots moving with hold-ramp-hold trajectories at ramp velocities of 4–32 deg/sec. Infants as young as 1 month old followed such target motions with a combination of smooth-pursuit and saccadic eye movements interrupted occasionally by periods when the eyes remained stationary. The slowest targets produced variable performance, but targets moving 8–32 deg/sec produced consistent pursuit behavior, even in the youngest infants. By the fourth month, eye-movement latency decreased and smooth-pursuit gain and the percentage of smooth pursuit per trial increased for all target velocities, though these measures had not yet reached adult levels.