Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Spatial integration in human smooth pursuit

S J Heinen1, S N Watamaniuk

  • 1Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, CA 94115, USA. heinen@skivs.ski.org

Vision Research
|January 20, 1999
PubMed
Summary

Smooth pursuit eye movements improve with larger visual motion stimuli. The visual system spatially sums motion information, enhancing tracking accuracy for bigger targets.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Flexible interpretation of a decision rule by supplementary eye field neurons.

Journal of neurophysiology·2011
Same author

Supplementary eye fields stimulation facilitates anticipatory pursuit.

Journal of neurophysiology·2004
Same author

Facilitation of smooth pursuit initiation by electrical stimulation in the supplementary eye fields.

Journal of neurophysiology·2001
Same author

The use of an implicit standard for measuring discrimination thresholds.

Vision research·2000
Same author

Local motion detectors cannot account for the detectability of an extended trajectory in noise.

Vision research·1999
Same author

Human smooth pursuit direction discrimination.

Vision research·1999

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Vision Science
  • Ophthalmology

Background:

  • Smooth pursuit eye movements stabilize vision during object tracking.
  • Previous studies often used small, foveal targets, limiting understanding of real-world motion perception.
  • Tracking small objects against backgrounds can be impaired, possibly due to conflicting visual reflexes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if the smooth pursuit system can spatially sum coherent motion.
  • To determine if tracking performance improves when peripheral motion aligns with foveal motion.

Main Methods:

  • Observers tracked random-dot cinematograms (RDCs) to isolate motion responses.
  • Stimulus parameters like display height and density were systematically varied.
  • Eye speed, acceleration, and latency were measured during open-loop tracking.

Main Results:

  • Eye speed was greater for cinematograms compared to single spots.
  • Increased aperture size led to higher eye acceleration and decreased latency.
  • Changes in stimulus density also affected acceleration and latency, though to a lesser extent.

Conclusions:

  • The smooth pursuit system exhibits spatial summation of motion information.
  • Larger visual motion stimuli result in improved smooth pursuit performance.
  • Neuronal mechanisms likely average motion signals to enhance tracking accuracy.

Related Experiment Videos