Sustained smooth pursuit eye movements with eye-induced reverse-phi motion. 2017

Arthur Portron, and Jean Lorenceau
Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Département d'études cognitives, Laboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs (LSP), Paris, Francearthur.portron@ens.fr.

The gain and speed of smooth pursuit eye movements quickly drop whenever a moving tracked target disappears behind an occluder. The present study tests to what extent pursuit maintenance after target disappearance depends on the occluder's characteristics. In all experiments, a target moving for 2500 ms, (or 1250 ms) at 13.3°/s (or 26.6°/s), disappears behind an occluder for 700 ms (or 350 ms). Participants are asked to maintain their pursuit eye movements as long as possible after target disappearance. Experiment 1 compares smooth pursuit with four types of occluders and shows that a texture of flickering disks allows maintaining pursuit for long durations. Experiment 2 investigates the capability to maintain pursuit with occluders of varying flickering frequencies (3, 5, 10, 20, and 30 Hz). It is found that after target disappearance, smooth pursuit is maintained for longer durations with flicker at 10 and 20 Hz, relative to other flickering frequencies (3, 5, and 30 Hz). Experiment 3 tests whether disk size and disk density of a flickering occluding texture influence smooth pursuit maintenance. Finally, Experiment 4 tests the influence of the contrast distribution of the flickering disks on pursuit maintenance. Altogether, the results show that individuals can maintain smooth pursuit for long durations after target disappearance behind an occluding texture of disks flickering at temporal frequency above 5 Hz with balanced contrast. It is suggested that eye-induced reverse-phi motion responses in MT/MST neurons provide a positive visual feedback to the pursuit system, allowing generating smooth pursuit in the absence of explicit stimulus motion.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D009038 Motion Physical motion, i.e., a change in position of a body or subject as a result of an external force. It is distinguished from MOVEMENT, a process resulting from biological activity. Motions
D009039 Motion Perception The real or apparent movement of objects through the visual field. Movement Perception,Perception, Motion,Perception, Movement
D009474 Neurons The basic cellular units of nervous tissue. Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. Their purpose is to receive, conduct, and transmit impulses in the NERVOUS SYSTEM. Nerve Cells,Cell, Nerve,Cells, Nerve,Nerve Cell,Neuron
D010775 Photic Stimulation Investigative technique commonly used during ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY in which a series of bright light flashes or visual patterns are used to elicit brain activity. Stimulation, Photic,Visual Stimulation,Photic Stimulations,Stimulation, Visual,Stimulations, Photic,Stimulations, Visual,Visual Stimulations
D011698 Pursuit, Smooth Eye movements that are slow, continuous, and conjugate and occur when a fixed object is moved slowly. Pursuits, Smooth,Smooth Pursuit,Smooth Pursuits
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328 Adult A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available. Adults
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia

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