Eye movements as a readout of sensorimotor decision processes

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Motor Control

Background:

• Real-world tasks require sequential, interdependent choices for accurate motor actions.
• Existing primate decision-making research often focuses on simplified, one-step choices.
• Understanding sensorimotor decision development over time is crucial for complex actions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the temporal development of sensorimotor decisions in a time-critical task.
• To analyze how eye movements reflect different stages of go/no-go decision formation.
• To determine the relationship between oculomotor events and decision accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Human observers (n=42) performed a go/no-go interception task with a moving target.
• Eye and hand movements were recorded during the task.
• Analysis focused on the timing of eye movement differentiation relative to hand movement onset.

Main Results:

• Eye movements began differentiating between go and no-go actions before hand movement onset.
• Higher eye velocity during smooth pursuit initiation correlated with accurate interception decisions (whether to act).
• Faster smooth pursuit maintenance correlated with accurate timing decisions (when to act).

Conclusions:

• Eye movements serve as a continuous readout of ongoing sensorimotor decision formation.
• Distinct oculomotor events (pursuit initiation and maintenance) are linked to specific decision-making stages.
• Shared sensorimotor processing underlies eye and hand movements in go/no-go tasks.