Effect of seven-day dry immersion on the mechanisms of ocular saccadic movement generation

In order to evaluate the impact of prolonged support deprivation on the mechanisms of ocular saccadic movement generation, four volunteers were tested immediately before seven-day dry immersion and on the day of its completion. The task consisted of tapping random light stimuli emerging on the periphery of a sensory screen. During testing, the subject’s head was kept in a fixed position. The subjects could suppress the stimuli in two ways: (1) by touching an appropriate area on the screen with their fingers with gaze shifting and fixation accompanying coordinated hand movement or (2) by clicking the computer mouse button after gaze fixation on the stimulus. The movement pattern of each eye was recorded and analyzed in the infrared frequency of 200 Hz. It is assumed that the identical effects of immersion on the dependence of the peak saccade velocity on its amplitude in tests where the two methods of stimulus tapping were used suggest saccade acceleration after immersion as a direct effect of prolonged support deprivation.