Quick eye movements away from a stimulus are called anti-saccades.
We innately want to quickly move our eyes toward a stimulus (toward a sound or light), therefore anti-saccades require higher level of processing and skill to suppress the reflexive movement and create an eye movement away from the stimulus.
The ability to do so quickly is a hallmark of highly developed executive attentional control- in other words the conscious brain is working quickly and at a high level. [1]
Individuals who are exposed to repeated subconcussive impacts have demonstrated a reduction in this ability. [2,3] This appears in two ways:
- Increased reaction time
- Decreased target accuracy
Training anti-saccades is important for performance in the tactical athlete, especially since the occupational hazard of repeated subconcussive impacts can affect this capability.
Here is a sequence to training anti-saccadic capability;
- Pick target that you will move your eyes to.
- Determine the stimulus that is in the opposite direction from the target in Step #1.
- Note: This can be a visual, auditory, or tactile stimulus – pick a target and stimulus that are functional and specific to the demands of your job.
- Identify movement pattern for reaction.
- There is likely an optimal movement output- aka reaction- after the eye movement. Once you master speed and accuracy of the anti-saccadic eye movement, add in the footwork and body movement patterns representative of the appropriate response to that visual stimulus (target).
Knowing the areas of performance that may be impacted by repeated subconcussive exposures creates an opportunity to train those specific skills.
In what situations are fast and accurate eye movement AWAY from a stimulus important for your performance? Let me know in the comments below or email me at [email protected].
References:
- Munoz, D. P., & Everling, S. (2004). Look away: the anti-saccade task and the voluntary control of eye movement. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(3), 218-228.
- Gallagher, V. T., Murthy, P., Stocks, J., Vesci, B., Colegrove, D., Mjaanes, J., … & Reilly, J. L. (2020). Differential Change in Oculomotor Performance among Female Collegiate Soccer Players versus Non-Contact Athletes from Pre-to Post-Season. Neurotrauma reports, 1(1), 169-180.
- Gallagher, V. T., Murthy, P., Stocks, J., Vesci, B., Mjaanes, J., Chen, Y., … & Reilly, J. L. (2021). Eye Movements Detect Differential Change after Participation in Male Collegiate Collision versus Non-Collision Sports. Neurotrauma Reports, 2(1), 440-452.