Enhanced long-range communication among large scale brain networks during the pre-microsaccadic period

Microsaccades play a critical role in vision. They facilitate visual processing within the receptive field congruent with the anticipated microsaccade direction, while inhibiting processing elsewhere. This might be controlled by an interaction between the attention network and the visual network. In this study, we quantified the large-scale brain network dynamics time-locked to microsaccades, and found that the global communication efficiencies of these large-scale brain networks were significantly enhanced during the pre-microsaccadic period. Specifically, in theta and beta bands, areas of the attention network send information toward areas of the visual network and the posterior part of the default mode network; in alpha band, areas of the visual network and the posterior part of the default mode network send information back to the front. Our findings suggest that the enhanced long-range communication contributes to the pre-microsaccadic modulation of visual perception. The top-down attention modulation in the theta band and the bottom-up feedback in the alpha band collaboratively support the selective modulation of visual perception before microsaccade onset. Because microsaccades are continuously causing rhythmic modulation of the large-scale brain network communication, they should be taken into consideration when interpreting any visual and cognitive task results.