Antisaccadic Gain and Velocity Differences Between Athletes and Non-Athletes

Accurate eye movements are imperative to successfully meet the physical demands of sport. Prior literature has proposed that athletes utilize saccades to make correct perceptual responses, a process modulated by saccadic gain (SG) and velocity (SV). SG and SV are powerful measures for understanding the premotor and central circuits of saccades, and represent speed-accuracy mechanisms underlying rapid eye movement control. The current study evaluated SG differences between interceptive (INT) and strategic (STR) Division I athletes, as well as non-athletes (NON) with an antisaccade task. Thirty-six participants (12 INT, 12 STR and 12 NON) performed two, 40-trial blocks of a 20° antisaccade task, from which SG and SV were calculated. Two one-way ANOVAs were calculated to assess the differences in SG and SV between the 3 groups during an antisaccade task. There was a significant main effect of athlete type on SG (p<0.05) and SV (p<0.01). Post-hoc analyses revealed that STR had significantly lower SG and SV than INT and NON (p<0.05). No significant differences were noted between INT and NON SG (p=0.863) and SV (p=0.35). This study provides novel observations in the saccadic behavior between athlete paradigms and NON. This research demonstrates that there are apparent antisaccadic gain and velocity differences between different sport paradigms.