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Shortening and prolongation of saccade latencies following microsaccades

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Abstract

When the eyes fixate at a point in a visual scene, small saccades rapidly shift the image on the retina. The effect of these microsaccades on the latency of subsequent large-scale saccades may be twofold. First, microsaccades are associated with an enhancement of visual perception. Their occurrence during saccade target perception could, thus, decrease saccade latencies. Second, microsaccades are likely to indicate activity in fixation-related oculomotor neurons. These represent competitors to saccade-related cells in the interplay of gaze holding and shifting. Consequently, an increase in saccade latencies would be expected after microsaccades. Here, we present evidence for both aspects of microsaccadic impact on saccade latency. In a delayed response task, participants made saccades to visible or memorized targets. First, microsaccade occurrence up to 50 ms before target disappearance correlated with 18 ms (or 8%) faster saccades to memorized targets. Second, if microsaccades occurred shortly (i.e., <150 ms) before a saccade was required, mean saccadic reaction time in visual and memory trials was increased by about 40 ms (or 16%). Hence, microsaccades can have opposite consequences for saccade latencies, pointing at a differential role of these fixational eye movements in the preparation of saccade motor programs.

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Notes

  1. Separate ANOVAs were performed because of the differences in the number of missing cells.

  2. Criteria for trial rejection applied here partly differed from those used by Supèr et al. (2004). A post-hoc rejection of trials were fixation left an area of 1×1° (as it was done on-line by Supèr et al.) did not significantly change any of the results reported here.

  3. We want to emphasize that the continuum of movement fields along the rostral–caudal dimension extends to saccade amplitudes well below 1° as observed in the cited studies. Thus, microsaccades fall in the range of amplitudes represented in the very rostral pole of the SC.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Eike Martin Richter, Ralf Engbert, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful conversation and/or comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. This research was supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grants KL955/3 and /6).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cognitive Psychology, University of Potsdam, P.O. Box 601553, 14415, Potsdam, Germany

    Martin Rolfs, Jochen Laubrock & Reinhold Kliegl

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  1. Martin Rolfs
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  2. Jochen Laubrock
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  3. Reinhold Kliegl
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Correspondence to Martin Rolfs.

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Rolfs, M., Laubrock, J. & Kliegl, R. Shortening and prolongation of saccade latencies following microsaccades. Exp Brain Res 169, 369–376 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-005-0148-1

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