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Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Using Eye-tracking to Assess the Relative Importance of Visual and Vestibular Input to Subcortical Motion Processing in the Roll Plane
Published on: August 22, 2025
Eye movements affect the perceived speed of visual motion
1Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA. kathy@lions.med.jhu.edu
Eye movements affect how we perceive object speed, often leading to inaccurate judgments. This study reveals that the brain does not fully compensate for eye motion, impacting visual motion perception.
Area of Science:
- Vision science
- Neuroscience
- Perception psychology
Background:
- Eye movements introduce retinal image displacement, necessitating compensation for accurate motion perception.
- Full compensation would mean perceived object speed remains constant irrespective of eye motion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the brain fully compensates for eye movements during motion perception.
- To determine how eye velocity and stimulus size interact to influence perceived object speed.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a pursue-fixate procedure within a perceptual matching paradigm.
- Manipulated eye velocity relative to distal stimulus motion and stimulus size.
Main Results:
- Eye movements systematically bias perceived speed, indicating incomplete compensation.
- Perceived speed varied based on the interaction between stimulus size and relative eye velocity.
- Opposite direction motion led to overestimation for small stimuli and underestimation for large stimuli.
Conclusions:
- The visual system exhibits incomplete compensation for eye movements in motion perception.
- Findings suggest a complex interplay between retinal and extraretinal signals in speed perception.
- Results align with current neurophysiological understanding of motion processing.
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