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Visual System

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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 30, 2025

How to Build a Dichoptic Presentation System That Includes an Eye Tracker

How to Build a Dichoptic Presentation System That Includes an Eye Tracker

Published on: September 6, 2017

All eyes on attention.

Alessandro Benedetto¹, Martina Poletti²

¹Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Center for Visual Science, University of Rochester, New York, United States.

|March 15, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Covert attention, which guides neural processing without eye movements, is not explained by eye movements alone. Neural effects of attention can occur independently of any physical eye movements.

Keywords:

attention microsaccades neuromodulation neuroscience oculomotor system rhesus macaque superior colliculus visual suppression

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Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Sep 30, 2025

How to Build a Dichoptic Presentation System That Includes an Eye Tracker

How to Build a Dichoptic Presentation System That Includes an Eye Tracker

Published on: September 6, 2017

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation

VisualEyes: A Modular Software System for Oculomotor Experimentation

Published on: March 25, 2011

A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking

A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking

Published on: July 9, 2016

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Visual Attention

Background:

Covert attention modulates neural activity, influencing perception and cognition.
The relationship between eye movements and covert attention has been debated.
Understanding this relationship is crucial for models of attention.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether eye movements are necessary or sufficient to explain neural effects of covert attention.
To dissociate the neural correlates of attention from oculomotor control.

Main Methods:

Utilized neuroimaging techniques (e.g., fMRI, EEG) to measure brain activity.
Employed behavioral tasks to assess attention and eye movements independently.
Analyzed neural data in relation to attentional state and eye movement parameters.

Main Results:

Neural effects attributed to covert attention were observed even without concurrent eye movements.
Eye movements did not fully account for the observed neural modulations during attention.
Periods of covert attention without eye movements showed distinct neural signatures.

Conclusions:

Eye movements are neither necessary nor sufficient to explain the neural basis of covert attention.
Neural mechanisms of attention operate independently of, though potentially interact with, oculomotor systems.
Future research should focus on the distinct neural computations underlying attention and eye movements.