Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The aim of the study was to determine the effects of a sports vision training programme on peripheral awareness, eye-hand coordination, eye-body coordination, visual reaction time and visual-motor response time of physically active males when in a non-fatigued condition and when in an induced-fatigue condition that simulates levels experienced when playing field-based sports. Scheduling challenges made it necessary to use a sample of convenience rather than random sampling to divide the 49 participants into a treatment group (n=16) and a control group (n=33). A pre-test was administered according to assessment protocols for five selected visual skills performed in both a nonfatigued and fatigued condition. The treatment group participated in an eight-week visual training intervention programme. The purpose of this visual training programme was to train the five selected visual skills (peripheral awareness, eye-hand coordination, eyebody coordination, visual reaction time and visual-motor response time and to practice these skills during fatigued cardiovascular conditions. The post test was administered immediately after the intervention period. Interaction effects were found for three variables: peripheral awareness, eye-hand coordination and visual reaction time, so conclusions could be drawn only for eye-body coordination and visual-motor response time. No significant differences were found for visual-motor response time in the non-fatigued condition. It can be concluded that the sports vision training programme, as implemented in this study, resulted in a significant improvement in visual-motor response time of the treatment group as compared to the control group, when performing under fatigue conditions.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to delineate differences in saccade characteristics between a population of athletes and non athletes. Aspects specifically investigated were latency, accuracy, peak velocity, and gain adaptation of saccades using both increasing and decreasing paradigms. Methods: A sample of 28 athletes (varsity badminton and squash players) and 18 non athletes (< 3 hour/week in sports) were studied. Eye movements were recorded at 120Hz using a video based eye tracker (ELMAR 2020). Each subject participated in 2 sessions on separate days. Baseline saccade responses to dot stimuli were measured in both sessions (stimulus size: 5-25 deg). The first session involved a gain decreasing paradigm, induced by displacing the stimulus backwards by 3 degrees from the initial target step (12 deg) for 500 trials. In the 2nd session a gain increase was induced by displacing the stimuli by 3 degrees in the forward direction. The latency and accuracy were calculated from the baseline. The asymptotic peak velocity was calculated from the main sequence (amplitude vs. peak velocity). The amplitude gains, calculated from the adaptation phase, were averaged for every 100 saccade responses. The averaged gains were normalized with respect to the baseline, fitted with a 3rd order polynomial, and differentiated to obtain the rate of change. Differences between the groups were compared using a regression analysis. Results: There were no significant differences in latency, accuracy, and asymptotic peak velocity between athletes and non athletes. No significant differences were seen between the two groups in the magnitude of saccadic adaptation, both for decreasing (- 15% in both groups) and increasing (athletes + 7% and non athletes + 5%) paradigms. However, athletes showed a significantly faster rate of adaptation for the gain increasing paradigm (F = 17. 96[3,6]; p = 0. 002). A significant difference was not observed in the rate of adaptation for the gain decreasing adaptation (F = 0. 856[3,6]; p = 0. 512). Conclusions: The study showed that the athletes do not respond better in terms of reaction time or accuracy of saccades. The significant difference in the rate of change of adaptation between the groups shows that online modification of saccades in the positive direction, although not greater in magnitude, occurs quicker in athletes than non athletes.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to delineate differences in saccade characteristics between a population of athletes and non athletes. Aspects specifically investigated were latency, accuracy, peak velocity, and gain adaptation of saccades using both increasing and decreasing paradigms. Methods: A sample of 28 athletes (varsity badminton and squash players) and 18 non athletes (< 3 hour/week in sports) were studied. Eye movements were recorded at 120Hz using a video based eye tracker (ELMAR 2020). Each subject participated in 2 sessions on separate days. Baseline saccade responses to dot stimuli were measured in both sessions (stimulus size: 5-25 deg). The first session involved a gain decreasing paradigm, induced by displacing the stimulus backwards by 3 degrees from the initial target step (12 deg) for 500 trials. In the 2nd session a gain increase was induced by displacing the stimuli by 3 degrees in the forward direction. The latency and accuracy were calculated from the baseline. The asymptotic peak velocity was calculated from the main sequence (amplitude vs. peak velocity). The amplitude gains, calculated from the adaptation phase, were averaged for every 100 saccade responses. The averaged gains were normalized with respect to the baseline, fitted with a 3rd order polynomial, and differentiated to obtain the rate of change. Differences between the groups were compared using a regression analysis. Results: There were no significant differences in latency, accuracy, and asymptotic peak velocity between athletes and non athletes. No significant differences were seen between the two groups in the magnitude of saccadic adaptation, both for decreasing (- 15% in both groups) and increasing (athletes + 7% and non athletes + 5%) paradigms. However, athletes showed a significantly faster rate of adaptation for the gain increasing paradigm (F = 17. 96[3,6]; p = 0. 002). A significant difference was not observed in the rate of adaptation for the gain decreasing adaptation (F = 0. 856[3,6]; p = 0. 512). Conclusions: The study showed that the athletes do not respond better in terms of reaction time or accuracy of saccades. The significant difference in the rate of change of adaptation between the groups shows that online modification of saccades in the positive direction, although not greater in magnitude, occurs quicker in athletes than non athletes.

Sports vision gained attention in the late 90’s and has since been the focus of many research studies. Thus far sports vision research has effectively succeeded in determining the importance of visual skills and also discovering the ability to improve visual skills through training. It is this ability to enhance visual skill performance that has led to the development of vision training programmes. However, the effectiveness of these training programmes is far from unanimous with many studies yielding inconclusive results. Possible reasons for this are the lack of scientific measures implored, testing and training of skills that are not specific to the subjects and training programmes that are unrealistic. Another major area that is missing from sports vision research is the accountability of external variables like; lifestyle, anthropometric and cardiac measurements. Aspects such as; stress, nutrition and hypo/hypertension are proposed to either have an enhancing or declining effect on visual skills. These relationships have not been scientifically tested and remain undefined. It is also important to note that research has thus far been limited to athletes. This study therefore aimed to determine the effect of two different training programmes on the visual skill performance of university students. Furthermore, external variables are determined to certify that visual skill training alone would improve visual skills and to determine and define if any relationships exist between visual skills and external variables. In order to meet the aims of this study, volunteer university students underwent pre testing of specific visual skills together with lifestyle evaluations, body composition and cardiac health testing. Thereafter the total participants (n=600) were divided into three groups. Group 1 (n=169) acted as a control group with no visual training taking place in a six week period, group 2 (n=225) underwent lab-based training with a simple repetition of testing methods used as training methods and group 3 (n=205) underwent training via an internet- based training method. Thereafter all variables were tested again and statistical analysis of the data was performed. Results showed the lab-based training group having the most improvement in visual skills with all skills improving besides vergence. The Eyedrills training group also showed significant improvements in focusing, tracking and eye- hand coordination. The control group showed the least improvement in visual skills thereby ruling out the notion of improvements occurring only due to test familiarity. Significant changes occurred in a variety of the external variables across the three groups. Due to the varied results with regards to external variables, correlations between these variables and visual skill performance is still unclear and remains undefined. There is enough evidence from this study to conclude that visual skills are improved due to visual skill training. The change from the typical subject type (i.e. athletes) is important in the expansion of visual skill testing and training to other fields besides the sports one. The effect of external variables on visual skills still remains unanswered and therefore more precise research in this regard is warranted. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Physiology / unrestricted

The thesis deals with the evaluation and training of cognitive-visual functions of elite athletes using the NeuroTracker computer program. The theoretical part pursues collecting of recent studies and literature, concerning predominantly visual perception and its connection with cognitive abilities and movement. It focuses mainly on sportsmen and evaluation of their visual functions. Furthemore it introduces the concept of neurovisual training and its possible application in other clinical fields. Methodology: The NeuroTracker program evaluates reaction abilities, visual memory, spatial imagination and other components of cognitive and visual functions. The output of this evaluation is a numerical value before and after training and calculated percentage improvement. This change was measured in a group of 64 athletes of various sports. The thesis also includes case reports of two athletes who underwent a general optometric examination, which was complemented by further visual training. Results: We have showed statistically that after a series of trainings on the NeuroTracker, there is an overall improvement of the measured parameters. Moreover we have shown that the number of performed trainings moderately correlates with the resulting improvement. Each sport correlates in a different way however....

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