Department of Robotic Science and Technology, Chubu University Graduate School of Engineering, Kasugai, Japan.
Department of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Chubu University College of Science and Engineering, Kasugai, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 10;14(1):23737. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-74202-0.
The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) stabilizes vision during head movements by counter-rotating the eyes in the orbits. Although considered one of the simplest reflexes due to its minimal neuronal circuity comprising a 3-neuron arc, previous studies have shown that VOR performance deteriorates in both monkeys and humans when they are drowsy. Given constant head perturbations under dynamic environments, the VOR has been proposed as a viable biomarker for detecting human drowsiness in automobiles and other moving vehicles. However, under stationary environments where exogenous head movements are absent, its applicability has been questioned. In this study, we demonstrate that each heartbeat generates small yet distinctive head movements, and the VOR compensates for these minor head perturbations. Furthermore, we show that the effectiveness of VOR responses varies with the degree of drowsiness, indicating that the VOR can serve as an indicator of drowsiness, even in stationary contexts such as in classrooms and offices.
前庭眼反射（VOR）通过在眼眶中使眼睛反向旋转来稳定头部运动时的视觉。尽管由于其包含 3 个神经元弧的最小神经元回路而被认为是最简单的反射之一，但先前的研究表明，当猴子和人类困倦时，VOR 的性能会恶化。鉴于在动态环境下头部持续受到干扰，VOR 已被提议作为检测汽车和其他移动车辆中人类困倦的可行生物标志物。然而，在没有外源头部运动的静止环境下，其适用性受到了质疑。在这项研究中，我们证明了每次心跳都会产生微小但独特的头部运动，而 VOR 会对这些微小的头部干扰进行补偿。此外，我们还表明，VOR 反应的有效性随困倦程度而变化，这表明 VOR 即使在教室和办公室等静止环境中也可以作为困倦的指标。
