FB Chua (1), TL Alvarez (1), AP Daftari (1), RM DeMarco (2)

摘要: Non-lethal devices have the potential to be the weapons of choice in crowd control, terrorist/hostage situations, and diffusion of domestic violence. However, to date, non-lethal weapons have had limited deployment. A critical factor in successfully and effectively deploying non-lethal weapons is the understanding of its bioeffects. Light energy is the key stimulus to the visual system and is used by the fine motor system (visual tracking). Saccadic oculomotor control is a sophisticated system responsible for locating objects in two-dimensional space. We investigated how a single burst of white light affects the neural strategy of locating an object through saccadic movement. Horizontal eye movements were recorded using the Skalar infrared limbus tracking system model 6500. Experiments took place in the dark where a subject initiated an experiment with a trigger button followed by a random delay to avoid subject anticipation. A flash of light was produced by a Grass photic stimulator model PS33 when the subject pressed a trigger button. A new target position was illuminated after a random delay. The control responses, 15 deg saccadic movements, were compared to 15 deg saccadic movements with a flash presented in the left, center, and right visual fields. The latency, time from stimulus onset to peak velocity increased when a flash was present in the experiment. The time to acquire an image within+/-1 degree doubled compared to controls for the eleven subjects studied. Data show temporal changes occur as a result of flash presentation. Further research is needed to develop a light protocol sequence to maximize the behavioral suppression …