The effects of age on normal saccadic characteristics and their variability.

Age effects on human saccadic eye movements were tested with infrared reflectance oculography in 34 subjects. In contrast to a prior report, only a slight non-significant change was observed in saccadic velocity and duration. An increase in saccadic latency comparable to that found in several previous reports was observed, however. All parameters showed considerable intersubject variability for both age groups. Decreased velocities or increased durations outside of these normal, broad ranges should be regarded as pathological for all subjects; they are not physiological effects of the aging process.