Adaptation of saccadic eye movements: transfer and specificity

The present study was designed to test whether the adaptation of saccadic eye movements depends only on the eye displacement vector of the trained saccade or also on eye position information. Using the double-step target paradigm in eight human subjects, we first induced in a single session two "opposite directions adaptations" (ODA) of horizontal saccades of the same vector. Each ODA (backward or forward) was linked to one vertical eye position (12.5 degrees up or 25 degrees down) and alternated from trial to trial. The results showed that opposite changes of saccade amplitude can develop simultaneously, indicating that saccadic adaptation depends on orbital eye position. This finding has important functional implications because in everyday life our eyes saccade from constantly changing orbital positions. A comparison of these data to two control conditions in which training trials of a single type (backward or forward) were presented at both 12.5 degrees and -25 degrees eye elevations further indicated that eye position specificity is complete for backward, but not for forward, adaptation. Finally, the control conditions also indicated that the adaptation of a single saccade fully transferred to untrained saccades of the same vector, but initiated from different vertical eye positions. In conclusion, our study indicates that saccadic adaptation mechanisms use vectorial eye displacement signals, but can also take eye position signals into account as a contextual cue when the training involves conflicting saccade amplitude changes.