Saccadic adaptation to moving targets

Saccades are so called ballistic movements which are executed without online visual feedback. After each saccade the saccadic motor plan is modified in response to post-saccadic feedback with the mechanism of saccadic adaptation. The post-saccadic feedback is provided by the retinal position of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2012-06, Vol.7 (6), p.e39708-e39708
Main Authors: Havermann, Katharina, Volcic, Robert, Lappe, Markus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Adaptation, Ocular - physiology
Adult
Biology
Consent
Ethics
Experiments
Eye
Eye (anatomy)
Eye movements
Feedback
Female
Humans
Localization
Male
Movement - physiology
Moving targets
Neurosciences
Photic Stimulation
Retina
Saccades (Eye movements)
Saccades - physiology
Saccadic eye movements
Short term
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Velocity
Visual perception
Young Adult
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Summary:Saccades are so called ballistic movements which are executed without online visual feedback. After each saccade the saccadic motor plan is modified in response to post-saccadic feedback with the mechanism of saccadic adaptation. The post-saccadic feedback is provided by the retinal position of the target after the saccade. If the target moves after the saccade, gaze may follow the moving target. In that case, the eyes are controlled by the pursuit system, a system that controls smooth eye movements. Although these two systems have in the past been considered as mostly independent, recent lines of research point towards many interactions between them. We were interested in the question if saccade amplitude adaptation is induced when the target moves smoothly after the saccade. Prior studies of saccadic adaptation have considered intra-saccadic target steps as learning signals. In the present study, the intra-saccadic target step of the McLaughlin paradigm of saccadic adaptation was replaced by target movement, and a post-saccadic pursuit of the target. We found that saccadic adaptation occurred in this situation, a further indication of an interaction of the saccadic system and the pursuit system with the aim of optimized eye movements.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0039708