Predicting visual object memory through natural eye movement topography

How do we visually explore and remember objects in our environment? Despite extensive research, the interplay between eye movements and visual memory remains incompletely understood. Traditional models of eye movements focus on image-specific factors like saliency and semantics, but emerging evidence highlights the role of intrinsic factors (e.g., genetic variability, endogenous dynamics). Additionally, eye movements and memory processes are tightly linked at the neural level. This study investigates the influence of eye movement spatial distribution during free exploration of visual scenes on long-term memory formation, examining whether fixation density patterns are a stronger determinant of memory than image factors. We recorded eye movements from 120 participants exploring 180 images, with five repeated five times. Participants then completed a free recall task, verbally reporting objects from the repeated images. Eye movement topography (gaze maps) demonstrated significant overlaps with memory maps, exceeding the overlap with saliency and semantics. Notably, gaze-to-memory map overlap predicted individual performance. These findings provide novel evidence that eye movement patterns contribute directly to long-term memory formation, with gaze topography serving as a critical input for encoding visual scenes. This study highlights the role of eye movements in memory and sheds light on visual exploration and memory consolidation mechanisms.