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Updated: Jan 16, 2026
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Assessing Binocular Central Visual Field and Binocular Eye Movements in a Dichoptic Viewing Condition
Published on: July 21, 2020
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What one sees depends on how far the eye has moved
Y Howard Li1,2, Michele A Cox2, Jonathan D Victor3
1Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|September 26, 2025
Summary
Saccades, rapid eye movements, filter visual information by spatial frequency, not just location. Reduced saccade amplitude lowers sensitivity to low spatial frequencies, actively shaping visual perception.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Vision Science
- Perception
Background:
- Humans use saccades, rapid gaze shifts, to explore visual scenes.
- Saccades redirect the fovea, the retina's high-acuity region, to objects of interest, enabling location-based selection.
- The role of saccade characteristics beyond location selection is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether saccade amplitude influences visual information filtering.
- To determine if saccade amplitude acts as a spatial frequency filter, complementing location-based selection.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of post-saccadic visual sensitivity in relation to saccade amplitude.
- Measurement of visual sensitivity across a range of spatial frequencies.
- Modeling the transformation of visual input by saccade kinematics.
Main Results:
- A reduction in saccade amplitude was found to attenuate post-saccadic visual sensitivity.
- This attenuation occurred in an amplitude-dependent range of low spatial frequencies.
- The observed effect was robust, with small changes in saccade size significantly impacting visibility.
Conclusions:
- Saccade amplitude provides a distinct mechanism for filtering visual information based on spatial frequency.
- The kinematic properties of saccades transform visual input into a spatiotemporal flow that influences perception.
- Saccades actively shape visual perception by filtering content, not solely guiding selection by location.
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