Differences in smooth pursuit parameters evaluated in adults and children

The ocular smooth pursuit system (SPS) was widely investigated in adults, in newborns and in infants during the first months of life, while very few data are available in children. A series of parameters characterizing the SPS can help one to analyse the possible differences present among the various age groups, thus allowing the study of the system maturation. Here, the authors examine the differences in the parameters evaluated on the smooth pursuit response elicited, both in children 6-12 years old and in adults, by step-ramp stimulations. A slight gain difference, with lower values in children, was found at all the stimulation velocities; the smooth pursuit start and end latencies were always higher in children. These results show the possibility to quantify, by means of few parameters, some smooth pursuit differences between adults and children that can at least partly justify an incomplete maturation of the SPS in children.