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Arousal facilitates involuntary eye movements.

Gregory J DiGirolamo1, Neha Patel2, Clare L Blaukopf2

  • 1Department of Psychology, College of the Holy Cross, 1 College Street, Worcester, MA, 01610, USA. gdigirol@holycross.edu.

Experimental Brain Research
|March 2, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Arousal, a form of attention, significantly increases the likelihood and speed of involuntary eye movements (prosaccadic errors) while potentially hindering planned actions during antisaccade tasks.

Keywords:
AntisaccadesArousalAttentionEye movementsInvoluntary actions

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Ophthalmology
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Attention critically influences action selection, but its role in eye movements is complex due to voluntary and involuntary actions.
  • Eye movements, such as antisaccades, can involve competing voluntary and involuntary processes.
  • Attending to movement locations is one aspect of attention influencing eye movement selection.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of arousal on voluntary (antisaccades) and involuntary (prosaccadic errors) eye movements.
  • To determine if arousal differentially affects planned versus unplanned eye movements.
  • To explore the temporal dynamics of arousal's influence on eye movement selection.

Main Methods:

  • Two experiments were conducted using an antisaccade task.
  • Arousal was induced using brief loud sounds.
  • Physiological arousal was indexed by changes in pupil diameter.

Main Results:

  • Arousal significantly facilitated involuntary eye movements (prosaccadic errors).
  • Involuntary eye movements were more frequent and faster under arousal conditions.
  • The effect of arousal on eye movements demonstrated a specific time course.

Conclusions:

  • Arousal, a facet of attention, enhances potent but unplanned actions over planned ones.
  • This facilitation of involuntary actions can lead to significant costs in human movement selection.
  • Findings highlight the complex interplay between attention, arousal, and motor control in eye movements.