Wearing a head-mounted eye tracker may reduce body sway

• Published in: Neuroscience letters Vol. 722; p. 134799
• Main Authors: Gotardi, Gisele C., Rodrigues, Sérgio T., Barbieri, Fabio A., Brito, Matheus B., Bonfim, José V.A., Polastri, Paula F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 23.03.2020
• Subjects: Eye Movements - physiology; Eye-Tracking Technology - instrumentation; Female; Fixation, Ocular - physiology; Gaze fixation; Head stabilization; Head-mounted eye tracker; Humans; Male; Postural Balance - physiology; Postural control; Saccadic eye movements; Wearable Electronic Devices; Young Adult; Saccadic eye movements; Head stabilization; Postural control; Head-mounted eye tracker; Gaze fixation
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2020.134799

•Mean sway amplitude is lower in the wearing Eye-Tracker than non-Eye-Tracker trials.•Mean sway velocity is slower in the wearing Eye-Tracker than non-Eye-Tracker trials.•Wearing a head-mounted eye tracker may attenuate body sway of young adults.•Body sway was minimized in order to aid the performance of the saccades.•Postural adjustments in different visual tasks were preserved during Eye-Tracker. This study investigated the effects of wearing a head-mounted eye tracker on upright balance during different visual tasks. Twenty five young adults stood upright on a force plate while performing the visual tasks of fixation, horizontal saccades, and eyes closed, during eighteen trials wearing or not a head-mounted eye tracker. While wearing the eye tracker, participants showed a reduction in mean sway amplitude and velocity of the CoP in the AP and ML directions and more regular CoP fluctuations, in the ML axis in all conditions. Higher mean sway amplitude and velocity of CoP were observed during eyes closed than fixation and saccades. Moreover, horizontal saccades reduced mean sway velocity of CoP compared to fixation. Therefore, wearing the eye tracker minimized the body sway of young adults; however, visual task-related effects on postural stability remained unchanged.