Saccadic Movements of the Eyes in Children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Syndrome

Saccadic movements of the eyes were analyzed in children with the attention deficit and hyperactivity syndrome. Saccadic movements of the eyes were recorded by a special method for their isolated registration without involvement of the head and in coordination tests (eye-head, eye-hand, and eye-head-hand). Comparative analysis of saccadic movements in children with attention deficit and hyperactivity and in normal subjects was carried out. Saccades recorded in each participant in complex tests with one or two additional motor acts, such as movements of the head and hand, were compared and the changes were analyzed for the group. Children with attention deficit and hyperactivity syndrome had problem with gaze fixation on the peripheral target after the end of the saccade and these changes augmented in more complex tasks with one or two additional acts. This could be due to discrepancy between the difficulty of the task and the potentialities of the frontal cortex, more immature in these patients than in healthy children. The changes could form the objective base for disorders in the formation of reading and writing habits, often observed in children with attention deficit and hyperactivity syndrome.