Children's Hospital University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Can J Neurol Sci. 2013 Sep;40(5):717-21. doi: 10.1017/s0317167100014979.
The spontaneous blink rate (SBR) is variable in humans. It increases rapidly during childhood before reaching a plateau in adulthood at 10-20 blinks/minute. Our aim was to compare the SBR during different visual tasks in children.
Thirty-nine healthy participants (mean age(SD):13.6(3.5)years, M=21), made horizontal and vertical visually-guided saccades, tracked a horizontal and vertical target, performed horizontal and vertical active sinusoidal head rotations in light and darkness while looking straight ahead (VOR task) or fixated straight ahead and in four directions of gaze. The eyes of each participant were videotaped and reviewed twice to determine the SBR. Parametric and non-parametric tests were used to analyze the data.
The median SBR during fixation straight ahead was seven blinks/minute, which was similar to the SBR during horizontal saccades and horizontal smooth pursuit tasks. The median SBR during vertical smooth pursuit and vertical saccades were significantly lower than during fixation (p≤0.042). The median SBR during the VOR task in light and horizontal VOR in darkness were significantly higher than during fixation (p=0.019-0.024).
The median SBR during visual fixation was lower than that reported previously in 5-14 years-old children during rest or 11-20 years-old subjects during quiet conversation. The median SBR was even lower during vertical smooth pursuit and saccades tasks. This may be due to differences in concentration required for visual fixation in general and vertical visual tasks more specifically. The higher SBR during the VOR may be due to drying of the eyes during head shaking.
人类的自发眨眼率（SBR）是可变的。它在儿童期迅速增加，然后在成年期达到 10-20 次/分钟的平台期。我们的目的是比较儿童在不同视觉任务中的 SBR。
39 名健康参与者（平均年龄（SD）：13.6（3.5）岁，M=21），进行水平和垂直视觉引导的扫视，跟踪水平和垂直目标，在直视（VOR 任务）或直视和四个注视方向时，在光和暗环境中进行水平和垂直主动正弦头部旋转。每位参与者的眼睛都被录像并复查两次以确定 SBR。使用参数和非参数检验分析数据。
直视时的中位 SBR 为 7 次/分钟，与水平扫视和水平平滑追踪任务中的 SBR 相似。垂直平滑追踪和垂直扫视时的中位 SBR 明显低于直视时（p≤0.042）。光照下的 VOR 任务和黑暗中的水平 VOR 时的中位 SBR 明显高于直视时（p=0.019-0.024）。
在视觉固定期间的中位 SBR 低于之前在 5-14 岁儿童休息期间或 11-20 岁儿童安静交谈期间报告的 SBR。在垂直平滑追踪和扫视任务期间，中位 SBR 甚至更低。这可能是由于一般视觉固定和更具体的垂直视觉任务所需的注意力不同所致。VOR 期间更高的 SBR 可能是由于头部晃动时眼睛干燥所致。
