Oculomotor Dance Task: Implications for Audio–Visual-Cued Spatial Learning

This study aims to address whether a new visual–motor-based learning paradigm with music can potentially promote neuroplasticity and create new interventional tools, building upon prior research that shows behavioral and putative neural changes following dance-based neurorehabilitation in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Eye movements of 10 healthy adult participants, aged 20–25, were tracked using the Eyelink 1000 Plus system during a 68 s eye dance sequence. The experiment consisted of a learning phase, where participants observed the sequence five times with 30 s breaks, and a performance phase, where they performed the sequence five times from memory on a gray screen without visual cues. Results showed a significant improvement in percentage of total movements performed correctly between the first session (g1; M = 40%, SD = 7.2%) and the last session (g5; M = 69.7%, SD = 22.8%). Similarly, there was significant improvement in the average time on beat from the intended choreography timing, between the first session (g1; M = 0.29, SD = 0.06) and the fifth session (g5; M = 0.46, SD = 0.12). These findings suggest that eye movement choreography has the potential to be learned within healthy adults.