A Comparative Study of Either Sex on Visiual Reaction Time
Human reaction time denotes time taken by an individual to react to an external stimulus. The response obtained while measuring human reaction time is voluntary response obtained after training and is specific in nature. The purpose of this study was to find out whether the reaction time was faster for green light stimuli or red-light stimuli. And to compare the visual human reaction times in males and females. Reaction is a purposeful voluntary response to stimulus. The time interval between presentation of stimulus and getting a appropriate voluntary motor response is a reaction time. It measures for alertness and processing speed of CNS which gets influenced with age, gender, physical activity and IQ of a subject. Different studies were conducted worldwide among different individuals have reported the prevalence of stress ranging from 27% to 73%. Different stress acts as an acute stressor which affects cognitive functions. It is found that the stress elicits elevated activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and increased release of cortisol. The study was planned to investigate gender difference. Choice reaction time (CRT) was used to evaluate the cognitive performance of digital reaction time. Randomly occurring visual tasks was presented. The readings was analyzed.
Abbreviations
CRT: Choice Reaction Time; VRT: Visual Reaction Time; ART: Auditory Reaction Time; GABA: Gamma-Amino-Butyric Acid; CNS: Central Nervous System.
Introduction
Cognitive neuropsychology [1] deals with structure and function of brain which relates to various psychological process.one of the cognitive domain is psychomotor speed and accuracy which can be measured by reaction time [2]. Reaction time [2] is defined as time interval between presentation of stimulus and appearance of voluntary motor response in a subject. There are various factors which can affect reaction time like age, gender, IQ, visual acuity, physical activity. Reaction time can be measured as either visual reaction time (VRT) [3, 4] or auditory reaction time (ART) in milliseconds.
Materials and Methods
A Comparative Study was conducted on 180 healthy individuals with 90 Males & 90 Females of age group 30 to 40 years. This study was carried at Owaisi Hospital and Research Centre Deccan College of Medical Sciences Hyderabad Kanchan Bagh, Hyderabad 500058 Telangana State, India. With prior Informed Consent It was done under 3 Modules [5]. • Detailed Medical History
- VRT recorded on Smart phone through an Android Application
- Statistical Analysis Unpaired t Test of the Data Collected.
Visual Reaction Time Procedure (VRT)
• The Individuals were instructed about the test procedure prior.
- They were asked to keep the index finger of dominant hand on the centre of the button and press it as soon as the Blank screen turns red.
- Reaction time1 values were directly read from the Digital Display.
- Total of 5 values of VRT [3, 4] were recorded and the average of 5 values was taken as final VRT in milliseconds.
Observation
| Parameter | Males ( N= 90) | Females ( N =90 ) | P Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| VRT (Milliseconds) | 386.66 ± 174.72 | 587.09 ± 248.23 | <0.001 *Hs |
Table 1: Mean VRT Males V/S Females.
The mean VRT in females (587.09± 248.23milli seconds) was significantly higher than that of males (386.66± 174.72milli seconds) (p <0.001) Table 1: Mean VRT Males V/S Females.
Graph: Mean VRT Males V/S Females.
Prolongation of VRT [3, 4] could be due to the female sex hormones [6, 7] that cause salt and water retention, which in turn influence the process of axonal conduction and availability of neurotransmitters at the synapse. Estrogens [7] modify the speed of transmission at the brain stem by secretion of gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) [7]. As GABA being an inhibitory neurotransmitter, an endogenously produced anxiolytic-like compound favours influx of chloride ions into the cells. Increased chloride entry into brain cells hyperpolarizes the membrane and thereby inhibits neural transmission. This neural transmission inhibition affects sensory-motor association and processing capability of central nervous system.
Whereas Testosterone [7] causes decreased influence of GABA-ergic inhibitory pathways which favours Excitatory
Neuro transmission pathways which favours Excitatory neurotransmission. This modulation of neurotransmitter coupled with altered rate of impulse transmission due to fluctuation in the levels of hormones affect the sensory motor association with the processing speed at the Central Nervous System (CNS)
Conclusion
The present study reveals that VRT of Males is less when compared to Females.
References
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Jain A, Bansal R, Kumar A, Singh KD (2015) A comparative study of visual and auditory reaction times on the basis of gender and physical activity levels of medical first year students. Int J Appl Basic Med Res 5(2): 124-127.
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Batra A, Vyas S, Gupta J, Gupta K, Hada R (2014) A comparative study between young and elderly indian males on audio-visual reaction time. Indian Journal of Scientific Research and Technology 2(1): 25-29.
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Smith EE (1968) Choice reaction time: an analysis of the major theoretical positions. Psychol Bull 69(2): 77-110.
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Veena CN, Vastrad BC, Nandan TM (2017) Study of auditory and visual reaction time across various phases of menstrual cycle. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol 7: 339-342**.**
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Gurvich C, Hoy K, Thomas N, Kulkarni J (2018) Sex Differences and the Influence of Sex Hormones on Cognition through Adulthood and the Aging Process. Brain Sci 8(9): 163.
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Ritesh MK, Ghuntla TP, Mehta HB, Gokhale PA, Shah CJ (2012) Effect of Gender Difference on Visual Reaction Time : A Study on Medical Students of Bhavnagar Region. IOSR Journal of Pharmacy 2(3): 452-454.
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