Abstract
The number of people suffering from eye fatigue induced by visual display terminal (VDT) viewing is expected to increase in the modern world. Eye dysfunction is suggested to induce a decrease in cognitive function, at least in the long term. Furthermore, considering other previous findings, it may be reasonable to think that acute or relatively short-term eye dysfunction attenuates cognitive function for not only older but also young individuals. Hence, clarification of the effect of eye fatigue induced by VDT viewing on cognitive performance is essential in order to maintain and/or improve our quality of life in the modern world regardless of age. The present study investigated the effect of eye fatigue induced by 1-h VDT viewing on cognitive performance, to test the hypothesis that such eye fatigue impairs cognitive performance in young individuals. A total of 19 healthy female university students voluntarily participated in this study. Before and after the 1-h VDT viewing or resting, the degree of eye fatigue and cognitive performance were evaluated. Refractive error measurement was performed to assess the degree of eye fatigue using a binocular auto refractometer, and a memory recognition task and Go/NoGo task were used to estimate cognitive performance. Response accuracy and reaction time were evaluated in the two tasks. Due to difficulty in interpreting the data of refractive error for one participant from the perspective of eye fatigue, the data for 18 participants were used for further analysis. The refractive error was significantly lower after than before the VDT viewing, but a corresponding change was not found before and after resting. Regarding cognitive performance, only the reaction time in the memory recognition task varied with the VDT viewing or resting. The reaction time was significantly longer after than before resting, without a corresponding difference before and after the VDT viewing. Thus, the 1-h VDT viewing induced eye fatigue, but relatively improved rather than attenuated reaction time in the memory recognition task. These results suggest that the effect of the increase in arousal level induced by the present VDT viewing on memory recognition compensated for the negative effect of 1-h resting of the eyes. We conclude that the acute eye fatigue induced by the 1-h VDT viewing does not have detrimental effects on cognition in young females at least under the present conditions.
Highlights
In the modern world, the use of visual display devices such as personal computers and smartphones has become a significant part of daily life at home, at work, during leisure time and on the move
There was a significant difference in the amount of change in the refractive error from pre-test to post-test between the resting (0.24 ± 0.55 D) and visual display terminal (VDT) viewing (−0.39 ± 0.47 D) conditions (P = 0.001, d = 1.23: large effect) (Fig. 2)
There was no significant difference in the amount of change in the response accuracy of the Go/NoGo task from pre-test to post-test between the resting (−0.3% ± 1.4%) and VDT viewing (0.3% ± 1.0%) conditions (P = 0.202)
Summary
The use of visual display devices such as personal computers and smartphones has become a significant part of daily life at home, at work, during leisure time and on the move. Based on the previous results, they explained that viewing three-dimensional content requires viewers to use more cognitive resources for processing three-dimensional information compared to two-dimensional content and that eyestrain is really brain strain, indicating cumulative cognitive load Another previous study (Daniel & Kapoula, 2019) investigating for visually normal young participants indicated an interplay between vergence accommodation conflict and cognitive load and the link between cognition and high quality of single binocular vision. As shown in a recent review (Orru & Longo, 2019), visual input relates to working memory as well as auditory input, which is one of premise of Cognitive Load Theory Considering these findings, it may be reasonable to think that acute or relatively short-term eye dysfunction attenuates cognitive function for older and young individuals. Clarification of the effect of eyestrain induced by VDT work on cognitive performance is essential in order to maintain and/or improve our quality of life in the modern world regardless of age
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
