Gender differences of exploratory eye movements - A life span study

Exploratory eye movements of normal subjects (39 male and 39 female) were r ecorded using an eye-mark recorder. Four parameters mean gazing time, total number of gazing points, mean scanning length, and total scanning length) were analyzed. Subjects were divided into three life spans as prepuberty (b oys and girls), adult, and postpuberty. The mean gazing time of adult women was significantly longer than that of age-matched adult men, but not betwe en men and women in prepuberty or postpuberty (postmenopausal older women a nd age-matched older men). The total number of gazing points of women was s ignificantly smaller than that of men, but not significantly different betw een men and women in both prepuberty and postpuberty. Both the mean scannin g length and total scanning length of adult women were shorter than those o f age matched adult men, but no significant differences were found between men and women in both prepuberty and postpuberty. Furthermore, the mean gaz ing time of adult women was longer than that of men in prepuberty and postp uberty. The total scanning length of adult men was longer than that of wome n in both prepuberty and postpuberty. These findings suggest that gender di fferences of exploratory eye movements are observed only during the adult p hase, which indicates that visual information processing may be regulated b y gonadal hormones in humans. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights res erved.