2009 Volume 7 Issue 2 Pages 74-78
The present study investigated effect on saccadic reaction time after repeated neck flexion. Twelve healthy young subjects participated in this experiment, in which eye movement task was pro-saccade and anti-saccade. Before the neck flexion movement, saccadic reaction time at the rest neck position for 30 s was measured three times with a 30-s rest between each measurement. Twenty-degree neck flexion was repeated twelve times for 120 s. After the neck flexion movement, above-mentioned saccadic reaction time was measured five times. In both saccadic tasks, reaction time in the first trial after the neck flexion movement was significantly shorter than that before the flexion movement. The shortening time was significantly larger in the anti-saccade than in the pro-saccade. These suggested that after the repeated neck flexion movement, the saccadic reaction time decreased due to persistent enhancement of the non-specific brain activation, and the larger shortening effect was found in the anti-saccade regulated by higher nervous system.
