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Updated: Jun 28, 2026

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
Trans-saccadic perception
1Center for Mind/Brain Sciences and Department of Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento, Corso Bettini 31, Rovereto 38068, Italy. david.melcher@unitn.it
Abstract:
A basic question in cognition is how visual information obtained in separate glances can produce a stable, continuous percept. Previous explanations have included theories such as integration in a trans-saccadic buffer or storage in visual memory, or even that perception begins anew with each fixation. Converging evidence from primate neurophysiology, human psychophysics and neuroimaging indicate an additional explanation: the intention to make a saccadic eye movement leads to a fundamental alteration in visual processing itself before and after the saccadic eye movement. We outline five principles of 'trans-saccadic perception' that could help to explain how it is possible - despite discrete sensory input and limited memory - that conscious perception across saccades seems smooth and predictable.
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