Microsaccade-induced prolongation of saccade latencies depends on microsaccade amplitude

Fixations consist of small movements including microsaccades, i.e., rapid flicks in eye position that replace the retinal image by up to 1 degree of visual angle. Recently, we showed in a delayed-saccade task (1) that the rate of microsaccades decreased in the course of saccade preparation and (2) t...

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Main Authors: Martin Rolfs, Jochen Laubrock, Reinhold Kliegl
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2008-09-01
Series:Journal of Eye Movement Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/2241
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author Martin Rolfs
Jochen Laubrock
Reinhold Kliegl
author_facet Martin Rolfs
Jochen Laubrock
Reinhold Kliegl
author_sort Martin Rolfs
collection DOAJ
description Fixations consist of small movements including microsaccades, i.e., rapid flicks in eye position that replace the retinal image by up to 1 degree of visual angle. Recently, we showed in a delayed-saccade task (1) that the rate of microsaccades decreased in the course of saccade preparation and (2) that microsaccades occurring around the time of a go signal were associated with prolonged saccade latencies (Rolfs et al., 2006). A re-analysis of the same data set revealed a strong dependence of these findings on microsaccade amplitude. First, microsaccade amplitude dropped to a minimum just before the generation of a saccade. Second, the delay of response saccades was a function of microsaccade amplitude: Microsaccades with larger amplitudes were followed by longer response latencies. These finding were predicted by a recently proposed model that attributes microsaccade generation to fixation-related activity in a saccadic motor map that is in competition with the generation of large saccades (Rolfs et al., 2008). We propose, therefore, that microsaccade statistics provide a behavioral correlate of fixation-related activity in the oculomotor system.
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spelling doaj-art-f1517c843a7a468fa1dec28f6c21f8af2025-08-20T03:48:41ZengMDPI AGJournal of Eye Movement Research1995-86922008-09-011310.16910/jemr.1.3.1Microsaccade-induced prolongation of saccade latencies depends on microsaccade amplitudeMartin Rolfs0Jochen Laubrock1Reinhold Kliegl2University of PotsdamUniversity of PotsdamUniversity of PotsdamFixations consist of small movements including microsaccades, i.e., rapid flicks in eye position that replace the retinal image by up to 1 degree of visual angle. Recently, we showed in a delayed-saccade task (1) that the rate of microsaccades decreased in the course of saccade preparation and (2) that microsaccades occurring around the time of a go signal were associated with prolonged saccade latencies (Rolfs et al., 2006). A re-analysis of the same data set revealed a strong dependence of these findings on microsaccade amplitude. First, microsaccade amplitude dropped to a minimum just before the generation of a saccade. Second, the delay of response saccades was a function of microsaccade amplitude: Microsaccades with larger amplitudes were followed by longer response latencies. These finding were predicted by a recently proposed model that attributes microsaccade generation to fixation-related activity in a saccadic motor map that is in competition with the generation of large saccades (Rolfs et al., 2008). We propose, therefore, that microsaccade statistics provide a behavioral correlate of fixation-related activity in the oculomotor system.https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/2241fixational eye movementssaccade latencysaccade generationsuperior colliculus
spellingShingle Martin Rolfs
Jochen Laubrock
Reinhold Kliegl
Microsaccade-induced prolongation of saccade latencies depends on microsaccade amplitude
Journal of Eye Movement Research
fixational eye movements
saccade latency
saccade generation
superior colliculus
title Microsaccade-induced prolongation of saccade latencies depends on microsaccade amplitude
title_full Microsaccade-induced prolongation of saccade latencies depends on microsaccade amplitude
title_fullStr Microsaccade-induced prolongation of saccade latencies depends on microsaccade amplitude
title_full_unstemmed Microsaccade-induced prolongation of saccade latencies depends on microsaccade amplitude
title_short Microsaccade-induced prolongation of saccade latencies depends on microsaccade amplitude
title_sort microsaccade induced prolongation of saccade latencies depends on microsaccade amplitude
topic fixational eye movements
saccade latency
saccade generation
superior colliculus
url https://bop.unibe.ch/JEMR/article/view/2241
work_keys_str_mv AT martinrolfs microsaccadeinducedprolongationofsaccadelatenciesdependsonmicrosaccadeamplitude
AT jochenlaubrock microsaccadeinducedprolongationofsaccadelatenciesdependsonmicrosaccadeamplitude
AT reinholdkliegl microsaccadeinducedprolongationofsaccadelatenciesdependsonmicrosaccadeamplitude