Orientadora: Profa Dra Maria Teresa Carthery-Goulart / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Neurociência e Cognição, 2014. / O Eye-Tracking ou Rastreador Ocular permite analisar e caracterizar comportamento oculomotor durante a leitura, o que permite realizar inferências sobre os processos cognitivos envolvidos nesta habilidade. O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar o comportamento oculomotor durante a leitura de pseudopalavras e palavras reais organizadas por diferentes propriedades psicolinguísticas: frequência, extensão e regularidade, verificando sua relação com variáveis sociodemográficas, hábitos de leitura e de escrita e o desempenho em testes neuropsicológicos em vinte e um adultos, com média de idade de 20,9 anos. Todos eram alunos universitários do Bacharelado de Ciência e Tecnologia da UFABC. Os participantes responderam a questionários para caracterização sociodemográfica e dos hábitos de leitura e de escrita e realizaram testes de fluência verbal e de memória operacional. A tarefa de leitura incluiu palavras e pseudopalavras apresentadas em listas. Foram estudados a duração da primeira fixação, da fixação total, das re-fixações intra-palavras e o número de visitas à palavra. As durações das fixações foram significativamente menores (p <0.05) para palavras em relação às pseudopalavras (efeito de lexicalidade) e para palavras frequentes, curtas e irregulares. Além disso, foram encontradas interações significativas entre o desempenho na fluência verbal e a duração da primeira fixação e das re-fixações à palavra e entre a dominância motora, o gênero e o comportamento oculomotor na leitura de palavras irregulares.

As próteses oculares têm a função de restabelecer a estética simultaneamente à manutenção da forma anatômica da cavidade orbital, preservando o tônus muscular palpebral e inibindo o colapso palpebral. Como poucos trabalhos científicos foram realizados para avaliar a recuperação de tônus muscular em indivíduos com necessidade de próteses oculares, este trabalho teve o objetivo de quantificar, por meio da eletromiografia, essa qualidade muscular e observar a atividade dos músculos óculo motores em pacientes não reabilitados, reabilitados e controle. A atividade eletromiográfica foi captada durante os repousos inicial e final e atividades que envolveram efetiva participação da musculatura nas seguintes condições clínicas: abertura e fechamento normais das pálpebras e abertura e fechamento forçados das pálpebras. Diante dos resultados apresentados nesse estudo, observou-se que a prótese ocular individualizada não interfere nos músculos óculo motores da hemiface contralateral à reabilitada; o contato da prótese ocular nos tecidos musculares remanescentes da cavidade anoftálmica realiza efeito mioestimulador e tanto no grupo reabilitado como no grupo controle, houve maior atividade eletromiográfica nos músculos orbiculares inferiores na ação de abertura e fechamento. / The ocular prosthesis is meant to restore the aesthetics while maintaining the anatomical shape of the orbital cavity, preserving the eyelid muscle tone by inhibiting the breakdown of the eyelid. As few scientific studies were conducted to evaluate the recovery of muscle tone in individuals that need ocular prosthesis, this study aimed through electromyography evaluate this muscle quality and observe the activity of eye muscles in patients not rehabilitated, rehabilitated and control. Electromyographic activity was captured during initial and final rest positions and activities involving active participation of muscles in the following clinical conditions: normal opening and closing eyelid and forced opening and closing eyelid. From the results presented in this study, it was concluded that the ocular prosthesis does not interfered in individual ocular motor muscles of the rehabilitated contralateral hemiface; the ocular prosthesis contact on the remaining tissue of the anophthalmic cavity did myostimulator effects, in the rehabilitated and control groups, EMG activities were greater in lower orbicular muscles at opening and closing actions.

O presente estudo avaliou o sistema oculomotor medido por movimentos oculares em bebês com diagnóstico de Displasia Broncopulmonar (DBP). Bebês com idade gestacional 37 semanas, dependentes de oxigênio em concentrações acima de 21% por mais de 28 dias foram incluídos no grupo DBP, bebês nascidos a Termo (idade gestacional > 37 semanas), não internados foram incluídos no grupo nascido a termo e bebês prematuros (idade gestacional < 37 semanas), que permaneceram internados e que não fizeram uso de oxigênio por mais de 10 dias foram incluídos no grupo prematuro. Os bebês dos três grupos tinham exame oftalmológico de biomicroscopia e de fundo de olho com resultados normais. Foram excluídos do estudo, bebês em uso de oxigênio sob ventilação mecânica e/ou drogas vasoativas, com diagnóstico de hemorragia intracraniana, retinopatia da prematuridade e malformações motoras e/ou neurológicas congênitas ou adquiridas identificadas no exame neonatal ou durante a estadia no berçário. Todos os bebês realizaram uma única avaliação binocular. As avaliações foram realizadas com os bebês sentados confortavelmente e eram compostas pela avaliação de quatro movimentos oculares: sacadas (SAC), perseguição lenta (PL), reflexo vestíbulo-ocular (RVO) e nistagmo optocinéticos (NOC). Os movimentos oculares foram transcritos em variável categórica (presente ou ausente) e para análise estatística foram feitas comparações entre o grupo DBP, grupo nascido a termo e grupo prematuro (Teste Cochran Q), para garantir a confiabilidade dos resultados apresentados durante a avaliação, 28% da amostra foi avaliada por três observadores e um teste de aderência X2 foi utilizado para medir a confiabilidade entre os três observadores. Durante o estudo foram avaliados 109 bebês, 107 foram incluídos no estudo, dois bebês, com IG < 37 semanas, foram excluídos por usarem oxigênio por um tempo igual há 15 dias. Dos 107 bebês avaliados, 23 foram inclusos no grupo DBP, 47 no grupo nascido a termo e 37 no grupo prematuro. Os bebês do grupo DBP tiveram IG média de 32 semanas ± 3 semanas, APGAR 1° minuto 6 ± 1, 5° minuto 8 ± 2, 37 dias em oxigênio ± 10 dias, na quantidade média de 2 L/min ± 0,5 L/min. O peso de nascimento, idade gestacional, APGAR NO 1° e 5° minutos do grupo nascido a termo, DBP e Prematuro diferem significativamente entre si (Teste Kruskal-Wallis p = 0.0000, 0.0000, 0.0000, 0.0013 e 0.0001, respectivamente). O grupo nascido a termo apresentou maiores valores quando comparado ao grupo DBP e prematuro. Bebês com DBP manifestam ausência de três dos quatro tipos de movimentos oculares medidos quando comparado com o grupo nascido a termo e prematuro (Teste Q Cochran onde Q > 2 e p, < 0,05) / This study evaluated the oculomotor system measured by eye movements in infants diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Infants 37 weeks gestational age, oxygen-dependent at concentrations above 21% for more than 28 days were included in the BPD group, term infants (gestational age > 37 weeks), not hospitalized were included in term groups and preterm infants (gestational age < 37 weeks), who remained hospitalized and did not use oxygen for more than 10 days were included in the premature group. The three groups of babies had eye examination and biomicroscopy of the fundus with normal results. Excluded from the study, babies on oxygen in mechanical ventilation and/ or vasoactive drugs; with a diagnosis of intracranial hemorrhage, retinopathy of prematurity, motor and/or neurological congenital or acquired malformations identified in neonatal or during the stay in the nursery. All infants made a single binocular assessment. The evaluations were conducted with babies seated comfortably and were composed by the evaluation of four eye movements: saccades (SAC), slow pursuit (PL), vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) and optokinetic nystagmus (NOC). Eye movements were transcribed into a categorical variable (present or absent) and statistical analysis were made between BPD group, term group and premature group (Cochran Q test) to ensure reliable of the results presented during the evaluation, 28 % of the sample was evaluated by three observers and an adherence X2 test was used to measure the reliable between three observers. During the study, 109 infants were evaluated, 107 were included in the study, two infants with GA < 37 weeks, were excluded by using oxygen for a time equal to 15 days. Of the 107 infants evaluated, 23 were included in the BPD group, 47 in the term group and 37 in the premature group. Babies in the BPD group had GA of 32 weeks ± 3 weeks, APGAR 1st minute 6 ± 1, 5th minutes 8 ± 2, 37 days ± 10 days in oxygen, in the median amount of 2 L / min ± 0.5 L / min. Birth weight, gestational age, APGAR score at 1st and 5th minutes from the term group, DBP and Premature differ significantly (Kruskal-Wallis test p = 0.0000, 0.0000, 0.0013 and 0.0001, respectively). The term group had higher values when compared to the BPD and premature. Babies with BPD manifest absence of three of the four types of eye movements measured when compared with the term group and preterm (Cochran Q test where Q > 2 and p < 0.05)

Title of thesis: The effect of manual therapy on visual acuity. Goal: The main goal is to present theoretical facts about manual eye therapy, to examine the effect of manual therapy of oculomotor muscles on selected parameters: visual acuity, subjective evaluation using a questionnaire and eye muscle pain in patients with refractive errors and eye accommodation disorders. Methods: The research was completed by 20 patients with refractive errors and eye accommodation disorders, from aged 18 to 55 years. An initial and subsequent treatment and exit examination and of eye muscles with the help of manual techniques, in particular, reciprocal inhibition and mobilization of eyeball were performed. The initial examination was performed by an optometrist, who assessed visual acuity by using an Autorefractometr, Snellen optotype and Red-green test test. After than was performed the subjective evaluation questionnaire, then was performed palpation assessment of attachments of eye muscles. Palpation pain proband evaluated using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale.The resulting data were processed using statistical software R. A paired t-test was used to calculate p-values. Statistical significance was assessed at the critical significance level of 0.05 and 0.01. Results: Our measurement did not show a statically...

Learning to read is a complex and demanding skill which is vital in order for children to be able to access a broad curriculum of learning within the school environment. Reading requires the integration of many different processes, it is possible that difficulties with one or more of these processes has the possibility to interfere with reading ability. The research aimed to investigate the presence and co-occurrence of difficulties across many factors thought to be involved in the reading process. Data were collected from 126 schoolchildren, aged 8-10 years on performance measures associated with reading; reading ability, visual sensory and oculomotor function, visual perception, attention, memory, phonological awareness and rapid naming. Differences in mean performance between different reading ability groups (ANOVA), and correlations between the variables studied, were used to investigate the presence and magnitude of any relationships. Many of the variables studied were found to be significantly different between reading ability groups and significantly correlated with reading ability to varying degrees. The analysis of multiple single-case studies determined that each child has a unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses and that many children including ‘average/above average’ readers, show below average performance on several measures included in the study, with affected skills rarely existing in isolation. Thus, it is recommended that an individualised multi-factorial approach is taken to the assessment of children struggling to read. This will require communication by a multi-professional team to ensure all possible contributing factors are explored to enable each child to achieve their potential. / College of Optometrist / Some material in this thesis is unavailable for copyright reasons.

The main experimental work of this thesis has been a cross-sectional study of the prevalence of refractive error and its biometric correlates in Middle Eastern adults. In addition dynamic accommodative responses and twenty-four hour axial length fluctuations were investigated in young myopic adults. The prevalence of myopia in 3000 Middle Eastern adults (age range 17-40 years) was similar to previously reported levels of myopia in the West. Myopia was associated with a higher level of education, occupations with a high nearwork demand and positive family history of myopia; all of which have been identified as risk factors for myopia development and progression Diurnal variations in axial length (AL) of similar magnitude to those previously reported in emmetropes were observed in myopes recruited in the current thesis. However, the pattern of the diurnal variation in AL was significantly different between early-onset myopes (EOMs) and late-onset myopes (LOMs). There were no significant differences between EOMs and LOMs in the dynamic accommodative response to a sinusoidally oscillating target. The accommodative phase lag was increased following 30 minute adaptation to myopic defocus using +2.00 D lens. However, intense prolonged (30 minute) nearwork was found to have no effect on accommodative gain or phase lag. A number of recommendations for further work on the prevalence of refractive error in the Middle East are suggested along with further research on diurnal AL variations and dynamic accommodative responses in EOMs and LOMs.

No description available.

No description available.

<p>Trajectory formation is an important quality of human movement wherein the analysis of its kinematic structure often permits inferences regarding the underlying sensorimotor organization. The studies reported herein aimed to reveal how task-specific encoding of saccades contribute to two movement models. We first examined saccades for changes in the evidence for online spatial corrections in response to different instances of visual tracking. Results from our first study indicated the sensorimotor operations associated with making timed series responses permitted unhindered operation of online corrections in predictive saccades. These saccades imposed a demand on spatial working memory without suffering diminished corrections typical of single delayed memory-guided saccades. Next, we queried the role of ventral stream visuomotor processing, as well as the contribution of basic stimulus features to explaining known modulations of online saccadic corrections. Our results are consistent with the explanation that ventral stream contribution to target metrics influence trajectory kinematics, but did not induce diminished online corrections if vision of that illusory target was available at saccade onset. Using another movement task, we examined how different saccadic tracking behaviours dissociated the contribution of various sensorimotor operations involved in oculomotor preparation and execution to eye-hand coupling. By observing changes in manual trajectory in an oculo-manual task, we contrasted the effects of saccadic tracking in predictive and reactive modes, overt and covert, horizontal and vertical, spatially congruent or perpendicular axes of primary motion relative to eye-hand coupling. From these data we concluded that saccadic encoding induced execution-dependent coupling, and optionally motor planning-dependent coupling when task constraints specified temporal synchrony between eye and hand movements. Moreover, eventual motor execution was a prerequisite for the emergence of oculomotor planning-dependent coupling effects. This implied no apparent contribution to the coupling dynamic as an exclusive function of shifts in the spatial allocation of attention without oculomotor output.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The main experimental work of this thesis has been a cross-sectional study of the prevalence of refractive error and its biometric correlates in Middle Eastern adults. In addition dynamic accommodative responses and twenty-four hour axial length fluctuations were investigated in young myopic adults. The prevalence of myopia in 3000 Middle Eastern adults (age range 17-40 years) was similar to previously reported levels of myopia in the West. Myopia was associated with a higher level of education, occupations with a high nearwork demand and positive family history of myopia; all of which have been identified as risk factors for myopia development and progression Diurnal variations in axial length (AL) of similar magnitude to those previously reported in emmetropes were observed in myopes recruited in the current thesis. However, the pattern of the diurnal variation in AL was significantly different between early-onset myopes (EOMs) and late-onset myopes (LOMs). There were no significant differences between EOMs and LOMs in the dynamic accommodative response to a sinusoidally oscillating target. The accommodative phase lag was increased following 30 minute adaptation to myopic defocus using +2.00 D lens. However, intense prolonged (30 minute) nearwork was found to have no effect on accommodative gain or phase lag. A number of recommendations for further work on the prevalence of refractive error in the Middle East are suggested along with further research on diurnal AL variations and dynamic accommodative responses in EOMs and LOMs.