Neck-shortening effect on prosaccade reaction time formed through saccadic training accompanied by maintenance of neck flexion

Abstract

We investigated the effect of neck-shortening on prosaccade reaction time formed through saccadic training accompanied by maintenance of neck flexion. The subjects were 30 university students who exhibited no significant shortening of prosaccade reaction time during maintenance of neck flexion, assigned to three groups: prosaccade training subjects at rest neck position (rest training group); prosaccade training subjects at 20 degrees neck flexion position (neck training group); and untrained subjects (control group). Saccadic training for 1 min was performed ten times per day, and the training period was 14 days. For the control group, no significant postural or training effects on reaction time were found. For both training groups, reaction time at the rest position after training was significantly shorter than that before training. For the neck training group, reaction time after training was significantly shorter at the neck flexion position than at the rest position. Conversely, no significant neck effect was found for the rest training group. This indicates that the shortening effect associated with maintenance of neck flexion on prosaccade reaction time is formed through saccadic training accompanied by maintenance of neck flexion.