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Smooth pursuit of nonvisual motion
Marian E Berryhill1, Tanya Chiu, Howard C Hughes
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA.
Journal of Neurophysiology
|May 5, 2006
Summary
Smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEMs) can be initiated without visual input. This study found tactile and proprioceptive cues yield intermediate SPEM gains, unlike visual (high) or auditory (low) cues.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
- Human sensory perception
Background:
- Smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEMs) typically require visual motion.
- Previous studies suggest limited SPEMs to non-visual cues like proprioception.
- Existing research often lacks quantitative analysis of non-visual SPEMs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantitatively compare SPEMs to various sensory stimuli.
- To investigate the gain of SPEMs driven by visual, auditory, proprioceptive, and tactile cues.
- To determine if combined tactile and proprioceptive stimuli enhance SPEMs.
Main Methods:
- Directly measured smooth pursuit gain (eye velocity/stimulus velocity).
- Utilized visual, auditory, proprioceptive, and tactile motion stimuli.
- Included a combined tactile + proprioceptive motion stimulus condition.
Main Results:
- Visual pursuit demonstrated the highest gains.
- Auditory pursuit exhibited significantly lower gains.
- Tactile, proprioceptive, and combined tactile + proprioceptive pursuit showed intermediate, statistically similar gains.
Conclusions:
- SPEMs can be elicited by non-visual sensory information.
- Proprioceptive and tactile cues support a distinct, intermediate level of pursuit.
- Auditory motion is a poor cue for initiating SPEMs compared to other senses.