Increased Dependence on Saccades for Ocular Tracking with Low Dose Alcohol

Tyson, Terence L ; Feick, Nathan H ; Cravalho, Patrick F ; Tran, Tiffany ; Flynn-Evans, Erin E ; Stone, Leland S

关键词: ALCOHOLS;    DOSAGE;    RELIABILITY ANALYSIS;    SACCADIC EYE MOVEMENTS;    STEADY STATE;    ETHYL ALCOHOL;    MAIN SEQUENCE STARS;    SLOPES;    TRACKING (POSITION);    VISUAL ACUITY;   

RP-ID  :  ARC-E-DAA-TN62907

学科分类：自然科学（综合）

美国|英语

来源: NASA Technical Reports Server

【 摘 要 】

Previous studies have shown that certain features of oculomotor performance are impaired at or slightly below the legal limit for driving in most U.S. States (0.08% Blood Alcohol Concentration or BAC). Specifically, alcohol impairs saccadic velocity and steady-state tracking at levels between 0.04% and 0.1% BAC. Here we used a suite of standardized oculometric measures to examine the effect of ultra-low levels of alcohol (down to 0.01% BAC) on steady-state tracking. Our high-uncertainty tracking task reveals that the smooth pursuit system is highly sensitive to BAC, with impairmentextrapolating back to BAC levels at or below 0.01%. BAC generates a dose dependent increase in reliance on the saccadic system that maintains overall steady-state tracking effectiveness at least up to 0.08% BAC, albeit with a significant decrease in smoothness.