Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2025
A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking
Published on: July 9, 2016
Development of oculomotor control throughout childhood: A multicenter and multiethnic study
Victoria Pueyo1,2,3, Jason C S Yam4,5, Teresa Perez-Roche6,7
1Ophthalmology Department, Miguel Servet University Hospital, Zaragoza, Spain.
Insights
Objective visual assessment of fixation in children is now possible. This study quantifies the development of visual fixation and saccadic performance in children aged 5 months and up, establishing normative data for clinical use.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Pediatric Vision
Background:
- Steady visual fixation is crucial for visual function but difficult to assess objectively in young children.
- Current subjective assessments limit understanding of fixational behavior development.
- A need exists for quantitative, normative data on oculomotor control in childhood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the developmental trajectory of fixational behavior in healthy children from 5 months of age.
- To establish normative references for oculomotor outcomes in childhood.
- To validate an automated eye-tracking system for pediatric visual assessment.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an automated digital eye-tracking system to analyze oculomotor behavior in 802 healthy children.
- Measured gaze stability, fixation stability, fixation duration, and saccadic reaction time.
- Recruited participants from five geographically diverse sites between April 2019 and February 2020.
Main Results:
- Ninety-nine percent of examinations were successful, demonstrating the system's feasibility.
- Fixational and saccadic performance significantly improved with age, particularly in the first two years of life (p < 0.001).
- Age was a significant predictor of most fixational outcomes in multivariate analysis.
Conclusions:
- The automated eye-tracking system provides a reliable method for quantitatively assessing visual fixation and saccadic performance in children.
- This study offers a normative reference for oculomotor development, aiding clinical diagnosis and management.
- Objective assessment of visual fixation is now feasible in infants and young children.
Abstract:
Although steady fixation is a key aspect of a proper visual function, it is only subjectively assessed in young and uncooperative children. In the present study, we characterize the development of fixational behavior throughout childhood in a large group of healthy children 5 months of age and up, recruited in five geographically diverse sites. In order to do it, we examined 802 healthy children from April 2019 to February 2020. Their oculomotor behavior was analyzed by means of an automated digital system, based on eye-tracking technology. Oculomotor outcomes were gaze stability, fixation stability and duration of fixations (for both long and short fixational tasks), and saccadic reaction time. Ninety-nine percent of all recruited children were successfully examined. Fixational and saccadic performance improved with age throughout childhood, with more pronounced changes during the first 2 years of life. Gaze and fixation tended to be more stable with age (p < 0.001 for most the outcomes), and saccades tended to be faster. In a multivariate analysis, including age and ethnicity as independent variables and adjusting by data quality, age was related with most fixational outcomes. Our automated digital system and eye-tracking data allow us to quantitatively describe the development of oculomotor control during childhood, assess visual fixation and saccadic performance in children 5 months of age and up, and provide a normative reference of fixational outcomes for clinical practice.
