Hand-Eye Coordination Training
What is it?
Hand-eye coordination is important in all aspects of life, from feeding to high-level sports. Individuals who possess the ability to process a greater amount of visual information in a shorter period of time may have a competitive advantage over slower counterparts (6,7), especially in regard to athletes. Quickly processing information and reacting appropriately is also paramount in day-to-day activities necessary for survival, and functionally can be a window into a subject’s overall cognitive status (6-8).
Why is it important?
Hand-eye coordination is important in all aspects of life, from feeding to high-level sports. Individuals who possess the ability to process a greater amount of visual information in a shorter period of time may have a competitive advantage over slower counterparts (6,7), especially in regard to athletes. Quickly processing information and reacting appropriately is also paramount in day-to-day activities necessary for survival, and functionally can be a window into a subject’s overall cognitive status (6-8).
How does it work?
The ability to react to a stimulus requires a vast and complex network of processing and integration involving visual cues (occipital lobes), motor planning (frontal lobes), spatial orientation (posterior parietal cortex), and balance and coordination (vestibular system/cerebellum) (3-6). Once processed and responded to, a person’s response is recorded by the D2 as a reaction time.
How does it help?
Reaction times, accuracy and speed of movements can be assessed both when the subject is playing and when a definitive reaction time has been generated. Because of the vast connections and integration involved in the processing of this information, any abnormalities found may be correlated to a subclinical area along the neuronal-axis that may be causing issues related, but not limited to, cognitive deficits, balance issues, visual limitations, degenerative conditions such as, Alzheimer’s Disease (9) and Parkinson’s Disease (10), and even psychological conditions such as Schizophrenia (11,12).
Although this type of training has been traditionally used for the rehabilitation of athletes and individuals seeking performance optimization, its use is not limited to just that. Due to the above implications in the same areas of the brain, the D2 has also become a standard device used in neurorehabilitation, stroke recovery, and concussion evaluation and rehabilitation (2-12). As a matter of fact, individuals do not even need to be able to voluntarily perform the task. We have observed and are in the process of researching passive hand-eye coordination to illuminated targets in toddlers, individuals with paralysis, neglect syndromes, and even altered states of consciousness!
References
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Hoffman J.R., Williams D.R., Emerson N.S., Hoffman M.W., Wells A.J., McVeigh D.M., McCormack W.P., Mangine G.T., Gonzalez A.M., Fragala M.S. (2012) L-alanyl-L-glutamine ingestion maintains performance during a competitive basketball game. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 9(1), 4. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
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Wells A.J., Hoffman J.R., Gonzalez A.M., Stout J.R., Fragala M.S., Mangine G.T., McCormack W.P., Jajtner A.J., Townsend J.R., Robinson IV E.H. (2013) Phosphatidylserine and caffeine attenuate postexercise mood disturbance and perception of fatigue in humans. Nutrition Research 33, 464-472 [PubMed]
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Adam J.J., Wilberg R.B. (1992) Individual differences in visual information processing rate and the prediction of performance differences in team sports: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Sports Sciences 10, 261-273 [PubMed]
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Kail R, Salthouse TA. Processing speed as a mental capacity. Acta Psychol (Amst) 1994;86:199–225. [PubMed]
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Turken, A. U., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., Bammer, R., Baldo, J., Dronkers, N. F., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2008). Cognitive processing speed and the structure of white matter pathways: convergent evidence from normal variation and lesions studies. NeuroImage, 42(2), 1032–1044. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.03.057
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Goldman-Rakic PS. Topography of cognition: parallel distributed networks in primate association cortex. Annu Rev Neurosci. 1988;11:137–156. [PubMed]
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Mesulam M. Brain, mind, and the evolution of connectivity. Brain Cogn. 2000;42:4–6. [PubMed]
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Spiteri T., Cochrane J.L., Nimphius S. (2013) The evaluation of a new lower-body reaction time test. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 27(1), 174-180 [PubMed]
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Morris, R. G., 1994. Working memory in Alzheimer-type dementia. Neuropsychology 8: 544-554.
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Dalrymple-Alford, J. C., Kalders, A. S., Jones, R. D., and Watson, R. W. 1994. A central executive deficit in patients with Parkinson’s disease. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psych. 57: 360-367.
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Green, M. F. 1996. What are the functional consequences of neurocognitive deficits in schizophrenia? Am. J. Psychol. 153: 321-330.
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Goldman-Rakic, P. S> 1990. Prefrontal cortical dysfunction in schizophrenia: The relevance of working memory. In Psychopathology and the Brain (B. J. Carroll and J. E. Bartrett, Eds.), pp. 1-23. Raven Press, New York.
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