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Antagonistic Interactions Between Microsaccades and Evidence Accumulation Processes During Decision Formation
Gerard M Loughnane1, Daniel P Newman2, Sarita Tamang3
1Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland, loughnag@tcd.ie.
Summary
Tiny eye movements called microsaccades disrupt visual perception and decision-making by interfering with neural signal processing. Microsaccade production is inhibited during perceptual tasks to mitigate these negative effects on behavior.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Microsaccades, small involuntary eye movements, can disrupt stimulus detection.
- Previous research shows microsaccades influence visual regions but their effect on higher-level decision processes is unclear.
- Understanding microsaccades' role in decision-making is crucial for bridging sensory input to action selection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of microsaccades on neural decision processes during visual monitoring tasks.
- To examine how microsaccades affect evidence encoding, accumulation, and motor preparation.
- To explore the relationship between microsaccade occurrence and perceptual decision-making.
Main Methods:
- Behavioral experiments measuring reaction times during visual change detection.
- Neural recordings to assess signal suppression at different decision stages.
- Analysis of microsaccade timing relative to stimulus onset and perceptual reports.
Main Results:
- Microsaccades occurring up to 800 ms after stimulus onset predicted slower reaction times.
- Neural signal suppression was observed at visual evidence encoding, accumulation, and motor preparation stages during microsaccades.
- Microsaccade production was systematically inhibited from the onset of neural decision-making until the perceptual report.
Conclusions:
- Microsaccades significantly impede perceptual decision-making by disrupting sensorimotor processing.
- Antagonistic interactions exist between microsaccade occurrence and evidence accumulation during visual tasks.
- Inhibition of microsaccades during perceptual tasks may serve to minimize their detrimental effects on behavior.
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