Optic Flow Speed and Retinal Stimulation Influence Microsaccades

Milena Raffi, Aurelio Trofè, Andrea Meoni, Luca Gallelli and Alessandro Piras
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Milena Raffi: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Aurelio Trofè: Department of Quality of Life, University of Bologna, 47921 Rimini, Italy
Andrea Meoni: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Luca Gallelli: Department of Health Science, School of Medicine, University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
Alessandro Piras: Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-10

Abstract: Microsaccades are linked with extraretinal mechanisms that significantly alter spatial perception before the onset of eye movements. We sought to investigate whether microsaccadic activity is modulated by the speed of radial optic flow stimuli. Experiments were performed in the dark on 19 subjects who stood in front of a screen covering 135 × 107° of the visual field. Subjects were instructed to fixate on a central fixation point while optic flow stimuli were presented in full field, in the foveal, and in the peripheral visual field at different dot speeds (8, 11, 14, 17, and 20°/s). Fixation in the dark was used as a control stimulus. For almost all tested speeds, the stimulation of the peripheral retina evoked the highest microsaccade rate. We also found combined effects of optic flow speed and the stimulated retinal region (foveal, peripheral, and full field) for microsaccade latency. These results show that optic flow speed modulates microsaccadic activity when presented in specific retinal portions, suggesting that eye movement generation is strictly dependent on the stimulated retinal regions.

Keywords: self-motion perception; visual perception; visual processing; eye position; eye movements; sensorimotor control; attention; visual system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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