Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Visual System

Visual System

Light enters the eye through the cornea, a transparent, dome-shaped surface covering the surface of the eyeball that helps to direct and focus incoming light. This light is then channeled toward the pupil, an adjustable opening whose size is controlled by the iris. The iris, a pigmented muscle, regulates the amount of light entering the eye by contracting or dilating the pupil, thereby ensuring optimal light levels for clear vision.
Once through the pupil, the light passes through the lens, a...

Vision

Vision

Vision is the result of light being detected and transduced into neural signals by the retina of the eye. This information is then further analyzed and interpreted by the brain. First, light enters the front of the eye and is focused by the cornea and lens onto the retina—a thin sheet of neural tissue lining the back of the eye. Because of refraction through the convex lens of the eye, images are projected onto the retina upside-down and reversed.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Visuomotor flexibility is embedded in the topography of frontal cortex.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Projection-specific intersectional optogenetics for precise excitation and inhibition in the marmoset brain.

Cell reports methods·2026

Same author

Active gaze behavior organizes V1 activity in freely-moving marmosets.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

Ecological factors affecting prosociality in marmoset monkeys.

Animal cognition·2026

Same author

Probing the limited oculomotor range of common marmosets <i>(Callithrix jacchus)</i>.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2025

Same author

Science must break its silence to rebuild public trust.

Nature neuroscience·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 3, 2026

Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels

Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels

Published on: July 25, 2025

Active vision in marmosets: a model system for visual neuroscience.

Jude F Mitchell¹, John H Reynolds, Cory T Miller

¹Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037-1099 and Department of Psychology and Neurosciences Graduate Program, The University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0109.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience

|January 24, 2014

Summary

The common marmoset is a viable model for active vision research. Marmosets demonstrate comparable saccadic behavior to macaques and can perform visual tasks under head restraint, enabling neurophysiological studies.

Keywords:

behavioral conditioning eye movements marmoset primate saccades vision

More Related Videos

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision

Published on: June 13, 2019

Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Optokinetic Response As Structural and Functional Visual System Readouts in Mice and Rats

Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Optokinetic Response As Structural and Functional Visual System Readouts in Mice and Rats

Published on: January 10, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 3, 2026

Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels

Non-aversive Animal Restraint Enabling Recording of Optomotor Reflex in Ground Squirrels

Published on: July 25, 2025

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision

Using Looming Visual Stimuli to Evaluate Mouse Vision

Published on: June 13, 2019

Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Optokinetic Response As Structural and Functional Visual System Readouts in Mice and Rats

Using Optical Coherence Tomography and Optokinetic Response As Structural and Functional Visual System Readouts in Mice and Rats

Published on: January 10, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Primate Vision Research
Comparative Cognition

Background:

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a small New World primate with a well-studied visual system.
Previous research utilized marmosets for anesthetized visual system studies and awake auditory/vocal processing.
Head restraint is crucial for precise eye tracking and neurophysiology in primate vision research, but its feasibility in marmosets was unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine if marmosets can perform visual tasks under head restraint.
To compare marmoset saccadic behavior to macaques under head fixation.
To assess marmoset's capacity for visual fixation and discrimination tasks.

Main Methods:

Comparative analysis of saccadic behavior in head-fixed marmosets and macaques during free viewing.
Behavioral conditioning using liquid reward to train marmosets for visual fixation.
Orientation discrimination task to evaluate performance and reaction times.

Main Results:

Marmoset saccadic behavior under head restraint was comparable to macaques, targeting similar regions of interest like faces.
Two marmosets successfully learned to fixate a central point and ignore peripheral stimuli.
Marmosets exhibited reliable performance and faster reaction times on an orientation discrimination task for easier stimuli.

Conclusions:

The common marmoset is a suitable model for active vision research requiring head restraint.
Marmosets' visual task performance supports their use in neurophysiological investigations of active vision.
This study bridges a critical knowledge gap for utilizing marmosets in advanced vision research.