Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology logoLink to British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
. 1984;18(Suppl 1):73S–82S. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1984.tb02584.x

Saccadic eye movement analysis as a measure of drug effects on human psychomotor performance

A N Griffiths, R W Marshall, A Richens
PMCID: PMC1463359  PMID: 6151850

Abstract

1 Analysis of human horizontal saccadic eye movements can provide measurements of central nervous system depression and stimulation.

2 Effects on saccadic eye movements have been observed in normal volunteers with barbiturates, benzodiazepines, opiates and related compounds, carbamazepine, amphetamine and ethanol.

3 A suite of programmes have been developed to allow the generation, collection and analysis of saccadic eye movements using a CBM 3032, 8032 or BBC B microcomputer. The system allows almost continuous sampling and rapid analysis of movements.

Keywords: eye movements, saccades, psychomotor testing, benzodiazepines ethanol, amphetamine, microcomputers

Full text

PDF
79S

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aschoff J. C. Veränderungen rascher Blickbewegungen (Saccaden) beim Menschen unter Dizepam (Valium) Arch Psychiatr Nervenkr (1970) 1968;211(4):325–332. doi: 10.1007/BF00404467. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baloh R. W., Konrad H. R., Sills A. W., Honrubia V. The saccade velocity test. Neurology. 1975 Nov;25(11):1071–1076. doi: 10.1212/wnl.25.11.1071. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Baloh R. W., Sharma S., Moskowitz H., Griffith R. Effect of alcohol and marijuana on eye movements. Aviat Space Environ Med. 1979 Jan;50(1):18–23. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Baloh R. W., Sills A. W., Kumley W. E., Honrubia V. Quantitative measurement of saccade amplitude, duration, and velocity. Neurology. 1975 Nov;25(11):1065–1070. doi: 10.1212/wnl.25.11.1065. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Becker W., Fuchs A. F. Further properties of the human saccadic system: eye movements and correction saccades with and without visual fixation points. Vision Res. 1969 Oct;9(10):1247–1258. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(69)90112-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bittencourt P. R., Wade P., Smith A. T., Richens A. The relationship between peak velocity of saccadic eye movements and serum benzodiazepine concentration. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1981 Oct;12(4):523–533. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1981.tb01261.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Cagianut B., Rhyner K., Furrier W., Schnebli H. P. Thiosulphate-sulphur transferase (rhodanese) deficiency in Leber's hereditary optic atrophy. Lancet. 1981 Oct 31;2(8253):981–982. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)91171-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gentles W., Thomas E. L. Commentary. Effect of benzodiazepines upon saccadic eye movements in man. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1971 Jul-Aug;12(4):563–574. doi: 10.1002/cpt1971124563. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HYDE J. E. Some characteristics of voluntary human ocular movements in the horizontal plane. Am J Ophthalmol. 1959 Jul;48(1 Pt 1):85–94. doi: 10.1016/0002-9394(59)90290-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jäntti V., Lang A. H., Keskinen E., Lehtinen I., Pakkanen A. Acute effects of intravenously given alcohol on saccadic eye movements and subjective evaluations of intoxication. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1983;79(2-3):251–255. doi: 10.1007/BF00427822. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Keller E. L. Participation of medial pontine reticular formation in eye movement generation in monkey. J Neurophysiol. 1974 Mar;37(2):316–332. doi: 10.1152/jn.1974.37.2.316. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lehtinen I., Lang A. H., Jäntti V., Keskinen E. Acute effects of alcohol on saccadic eye movements. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1979 May 8;63(1):17–23. doi: 10.1007/BF00426915. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Luschei E. S., Fuchs A. F. Activity of brain stem neurons during eye movements of alert monkeys. J Neurophysiol. 1972 Jul;35(4):445–461. doi: 10.1152/jn.1972.35.4.445. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Richens A., Allen E., Jones D., Griffiths A., Marshall R. A comparison of intramuscular meptazinol (100 mg) and papaveretum (20 mg) on human performance studies in healthy male volunteers. Postgrad Med J. 1983;59 (Suppl 1):19–24. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Robinson D. A. The mechanics of human smooth pursuit eye movement. J Physiol. 1965 Oct;180(3):569–591. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1965.sp007718. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Robinson D. A. The use of control systems analysis in the neurophysiology of eye movements. Annu Rev Neurosci. 1981;4:463–503. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ne.04.030181.002335. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rothenberg S. J., Selkoe D. Specific oculomotor deficit after diazepam. I. Saccadic eye movements. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1981;74(3):232–236. doi: 10.1007/BF00427100. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Rothenberg S., Schottenfeld S., Gross K., Selkoe D. Specific oculomotor deficit after acute methadone. I. Saccadic eye movements. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1980;67(3):221–227. doi: 10.1007/BF00431260. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Smith A. T., Bittencourt P. R., Lloyd D. S., Richens A. An efficient technique for determining characteristics of saccadic eye movements using a mini computer. J Biomed Eng. 1981 Jan;3(1):39–43. doi: 10.1016/0141-5425(81)90103-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Tedeschi G., Bittencourt P. R., Smith A. T., Richens A. Effect of amphetamine on saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1983;79(2-3):190–192. doi: 10.1007/BF00427810. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Tedeschi G., Bittencourt P. R., Smith A. T., Richens A. Specific oculomotor deficits after amylobarbitone. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1983;79(2-3):187–189. doi: 10.1007/BF00427809. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Tedeschi G., Smith A. T., Dhillon S., Richens A. Rate of entrance of benzodiazepines into the brain determined by eye movement recording. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1983 Jan;15(1):103–107. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1983.tb01471.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Tedeschi G., Smith A. T., Richens A. Effect of meptazinol and ethanol on human psychomotor performance and mood ratings. Hum Toxicol. 1984 Feb;3(1):37–43. doi: 10.1177/0960327184003001051. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. WESTHEIMER G. Mechanism of saccadic eye movements. AMA Arch Ophthalmol. 1954 Nov;52(5):710–724. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1954.00920050716006. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Weber R. B., Daroff R. B. The metrics of horizontal saccadic eye movements in normal humans. Vision Res. 1971 Sep;11(9):921–928. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(71)90212-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology are provided here courtesy of British Pharmacological Society

RESOURCES