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Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
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Short-latency allocentric control of saccadic eye movements.
Mrinmoy Chakrabarty1,2, Tamami Nakano3,2,4, Shigeru Kitazawa1,2,4
1Dynamic Brain Network Laboratory, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Journal of Neurophysiology
|October 28, 2016
Summary
The brain rapidly uses environment-centered (allocentric) coding for immediate saccade control, even when visual targets shift unexpectedly. This allocentric representation guides eye movements within 150 milliseconds.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Vision Science
Background:
- Saccade control typically relies on retinotopic target locations.
- Emerging evidence suggests nonretinotopic, egocentric, or allocentric representations are also involved.
- The role of allocentric coding in immediate saccade control remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hypothesis that allocentric coding is crucial for immediate saccade control.
- To determine if the brain rapidly utilizes allocentric target information for guiding eye movements.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an immediate double-step saccade task with sequentially flashed targets.
- Introduced a transient shift of a background frame during target presentation.
- Analyzed the endpoint of the second saccade for deviations indicative of allocentric influence.
Main Results:
- Transient background shifts caused second saccade endpoints to deviate towards the expected allocentric location.
- This allocentric effect was observed within 150 ms of target presentation.
- The magnitude of the saccade endpoint shift scaled linearly with the background shift size.
Conclusions:
- The brain rapidly represents and utilizes allocentric target locations for immediate saccade control.
- This study provides direct evidence for the rapid integration of allocentric information in oculomotor behavior.
- Findings challenge the exclusive reliance on retinotopic coding for saccade planning.
