Lynch J A, Aserinsky E
Behav Brain Res. 1986 May;20(2):175-83. doi: 10.1016/0166-4328(86)90002-1.
Since the principal criterion for identifying sleep in the young infant is eye closure, a study was undertaken to ascertain whether fast or 'saccadic-type' movements which occur in the eyes-closed condition differ in any respect from those which are observed in the eyes-open (awake) state. Specific parameters included the amplitude-velocity relationship, the numbers and types of non-conjugate movements (disjunctive and monocular), directionality and densities (EM/min). Measurements were made on 12 infants at 4-week intervals as they progressed in age from 4 weeks to 12 weeks. The results disclosed that in the main as the infants developed, a change, if any, of ocular characteristic in the awake state was paralleled by a similar change in the eyes-closed state, although the absolute number of eye movements was higher in the eyes-open state compared to the eyes-closed state. This suggests that the eye movement characteristics, whether the eyes were open or shut, were dictated primarily by oculomotor development and the mechanics of eye closure rather than by different mechanisms of neural control effected through different states of consciousness. Of special interest was the finding that the velocity-amplitude relationship in the infant's eyes-open state was almost identical to that reported for adults in the eyes-open state whereas the value for the eyes-closed state was comparable to that of the adult's eyes-closed awake state rather than to the value obtained for adults in REM sleep.
由于识别幼儿睡眠的主要标准是眼睛闭合，因此开展了一项研究，以确定在眼睛闭合状态下出现的快速或“扫视型”眼动，在任何方面是否与睁眼（清醒）状态下观察到的眼动有所不同。具体参数包括幅度-速度关系、非共轭运动（分离和单眼）的数量和类型、方向性和密度（眼动次数/分钟）。对12名婴儿进行了测量，随着他们从4周龄成长到12周龄，每隔4周进行一次测量。结果显示，总体而言，随着婴儿的发育，如果清醒状态下眼部特征有任何变化，那么在眼睛闭合状态下也会有类似的变化，尽管与眼睛闭合状态相比，睁眼状态下的眼动绝对数量更高。这表明，无论眼睛是睁开还是闭上，眼动特征主要由眼球运动发育和闭眼机制决定，而不是由不同意识状态下的不同神经控制机制决定。特别有趣的是，婴儿睁眼状态下的速度-幅度关系几乎与已报道的成年人睁眼状态下的关系相同，而闭眼状态下的值与成年人闭眼清醒状态下的值相当，而不是与成年人快速眼动睡眠状态下获得的值相当。
