Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements in Normal and Dyslexic Children
J. L. Black, D.W.K. Collins, J. N. De Roach, Stephen R. Zubrick · Perceptual and Motor Skills · 1984
This paper describes a detailed study of horizontal eye movements associated with visual tracking of a smoothly moving target. Essentially all children, even at target velocities as low as 5 degrees/sec., show some saccadic eye movements superimposed on smooth tracking movements. Detailed analysis of pursuit eye-movements from a group of 26 poor readers and 34 normal controls (8 to 13 yr.) showed that about 25% of poor readers have an abnormally raised saccadic component in smooth pursuit. This suggests that studies of eye movements during tracking of smoothly moving targets at low velocity, combined with a quantitative approach to data analysis, may be useful for early detection of a significant proportion of poor-reading children.