Date of Award

January 2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dmitri Poltavski

Second Advisor

Thomas Petros

Abstract

Visuomotor integration is the coordination of neuronal activity between the motor- and vision-related parts of the brain that influence behavior and perception, resulting in a motor reaction (Shin et al. 2016). Previous studies have demonstrated that longitudinal training of oculomotor, visual, attentional, and motor skills produce significant improvements of visuomotor integration and control in healthy subjects. Within healthy populations, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been found to facilitate visuomotor learning, motion processing, and the coordination and accuracy of motor movement (Antal et al., 2004; Coffmann et al., 2014). As such, tDCS may be an appropriate addition to the rehabilitation of clinical populations or the improvement of athletic performance.

The aim of the current study was to investigate the effectiveness of tDCS on visual fitness. The study was focused on healthy individuals, who have no known disorders or disturbances to their visuomotor system. The study protocol included pre- and post-assessment of subject’s visual motor control, visual sensitivity, and eye-quickness. After their initial assessment, all subjects underwent five sessions of either sham or tDCS-aided visual fitness training.

The results indicated that participants had minor improvements in their contrast sensitivity, near-far quickness, and perception span skills; though there were no significant changes in mu suppression from pre- to post-assessment. Post-training VEP amplitudes and latencies indicated more efficient processing however there were no significant changes in participants accommodative amplitude, near point of fixation, or near point of convergence.

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