Eye blink inhibition and occurrence timing in children with developmental disorders

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K03183
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 10040:Experimental psychology-related
• Research Institution: Fukuoka Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: Fukuda Kyosuke 福岡県立大学, 人間社会学部, 特任教授 (30173347)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 吉岡 和子 福岡県立大学, 人間社会学部, 教授 (30448815) ; 早見 武人 北九州市立大学, 自然科学研究科, 准教授 (60364113) ; 志堂寺 和則 九州大学, システム情報科学研究院, 教授 (50243853) ; 松尾 太加志 北九州市立大学, 学長 (70229425)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: Go/No-Go課題 / 瞬目の発生と抑制 / ワーキングメモリー / 行動実行と行動抑制

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Blinks are synchronized with task completion and suppressed just before the task. Children are expected to perform worse on Go/No-Go tasks than adults. However, the occurrence and suppression of blinking during the Go/No-Go task has not been clarified. In the present study, the blink occurrence during Go/No-Go tasks was investigated in the TDC group of children with typical development, the DDC group of children with developmental disabilities and the ADP group of adults.
The results showed that the blink rate in the Go condition was higher than that in the No-Go condition in all groups. During the 2.5 s between stimulus presentation and the next trial, blink suppression started earlier in the ADP group, whereas it was less suppressed in the TDC and DDC groups. These results indicate that blink onset and suppression become more pronounced with development.

Free Research Field

生理心理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

課題を終えると瞬目発生と課題直前では瞬目抑制が見られ，このことが人の発達と関連していることが示された。すなわち，認知過程の予期・処理は瞬目抑制，認知処理の終了は瞬目発生を引き起こすのである。瞬目は離れたところからでも撮影して記録できるので，人の認知過程だけでなく子どもの発達のようすを簡便に探るための重要な手がかりになることが期待される。