Wilson M, Stephenson S, Chattington M, Marple-Horvat D E
Institute for Biophysical and Clinical Research into Human Movement (IRM), Manchester Metropolitan University, Hassall Road, Alsager, Cheshire, ST7 2HL, UK.
Exp Brain Res. 2007 Jan;176(3):397-412. doi: 10.1007/s00221-006-0623-3. Epub 2006 Aug 5.
When driving along a winding road, eye movements and steering are tightly linked. When approaching a bend, the driver looks across to the inside kerb (the tangent point) some time before turning the steering wheel. All drivers we have tested show this optimal coordination, without which driving is impaired. An intriguing question is how much of the benefit for steering arises just from moving the eyes in this coordinated way (ahead of steering and in the same direction), and how much from the visual information that the eyes move to acquire, in this instance the foveated tangent point. This can be answered by dissociating the two, by reducing visibility of the road ahead (and crucially of the tangent point) to a level at which drivers might or might not choose to move their eyes but, if they do, will not gain the information they seek. Twenty subjects repeatedly drove a simulated stage of the World Rally Championship. With full visibility, they exhibited the usual coordination of eye movements and steering. Subsequently, visibility was reduced on the left hand side. Drivers who persisted in making eye movements coordinated with steering to the left, despite the fact that they could no longer see the tangent point on that side, performed better than drivers who under the identical conditions did not look to the left. This confirms that the making of coordinated eye movements itself benefits steering, even when the eye movements do not yield the visual information sought.
在蜿蜒的道路上行驶时，眼睛的运动和转向紧密相连。接近弯道时，驾驶员在转动方向盘之前的一段时间会看向内侧路缘（切点）。我们测试过的所有驾驶员都表现出这种最佳协调，没有这种协调，驾驶就会受到影响。一个有趣的问题是，这种协调方式（在转向之前且方向相同）移动眼睛对转向有多少益处，以及眼睛移动获取的视觉信息（在这种情况下是中央凹注视的切点）又有多少益处。这可以通过将两者分离来回答，即将前方道路（关键是切点）的能见度降低到驾驶员可能会或可能不会选择移动眼睛的程度，但如果他们这样做，将无法获得他们所寻求的信息。20名受试者反复驾驶世界拉力锦标赛的模拟赛段。在能见度良好的情况下，他们表现出眼睛运动和转向的通常协调。随后，左侧的能见度降低。尽管左侧的切点已看不见，但仍坚持进行与向左转向协调的眼睛运动的驾驶员，比在相同条件下不向左看的驾驶员表现更好。这证实了即使眼睛运动没有产生所寻求的视觉信息，进行协调的眼睛运动本身也有利于转向。
