Sensory Motor Integration Reaction Timer (SMIRT)

This equipment is essentially for Interactive Saccade Training. That, being the ability to accurately perceive the environment and react accordingly. We achieve this by having the patient standing in front of a panel of temporarily illuminated button targets.

The patient repeatedly and randomly sees a lighted target in their peripheral vision and reacts to this by quickly reaching to the target and pushing the target button. This combination of activities make the Central Nervous System, perform at a high level requiring Peripheral and Central Vision, Gross and Fine Motor movements while demanding exquisite coordination.

The selective timing of the lighted targets enable different combinations to predominantly enhance performance of the cortex or brain stem eye movement command generators.

The accuracy and average speed are recorded to gauge improvement from treatment. The equipment is individually programmed to match and challenge the users ability. Theoretically, it can be adjusted to predominantly stimulate the Neocortex with an ‘Overlap Stimulus’ or the Brain Stem using a ‘Gap Stimulus’ should that be necessary.

This equipment is also used in it’s ‘Anti-saccade’ mode. Where the user has to respond to an illuminated target by activating the button diametrically opposite the illuminated target. This protocol requires ‘a double take’ of the frontal cortex to achieve it correctly and quickly. That being, the reflexive saccade to the lighted target must be inhibited, the corresponding position calculated and subsequently acted upon.

It integrates the asymmetric tonic neck reflex, helps correct a maladapted vestibulo-ocular reflex and/or a deficient cervical-ocular reflex, consequently improving hand-eye coordination, basal ganglionic pathways and frontal lobe efficiency. Potentially, leading to improved cognition and self control over unwanted habituation, i.e. behaviours.