Version-vergence interactions during memory-guided binocular gaze shifts.

Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci

Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Published: March 2013

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study examined how accurate people are at shifting their gaze toward remembered or visible targets in 3D space using both eye movements (version) and eye distance adjustments (vergence).
  • In the experiment, participants focused on distant or nearby lights and then had to look at a target light that was briefly shown either in memory or in real-time, with the results showing distinct patterns in accuracy and speed for each condition.
  • Findings revealed that gaze shifts prompted by visible targets are quicker and more precise, while memory-guided shifts show a reliance on the outward-moving eye and less involvement from the inward-moving eye, particularly during convergence.

Article Abstract

Purpose: Visual orientation toward remembered or visible visual targets requires binocular gaze shifts that are accurate in direction (version) and ocular distance (vergence). We determined the accuracy of combined version and vergence movements and the contribution of the abducting and adducting eye during gaze shifts toward memorized and visual targets in three-dimensional space.

Methods: Subjects fixated either a "far" (94 cm) or "near" (31 cm) fixation light-emitting diode (LED) placed in front of the left eye. Next, in the memory-guided experiment, a target LED was lit for 80 ms (13 cm to the left or right and at 45 cm viewing distance). Subjects were instructed to make a saccade to the (remembered) target LED location. In the visually guided experiment, the target LED remained illuminated during the task. In both conditions, gaze shifts consisted of version and vergence movements.

Results: Visually guided gaze shifts had both a fast intrasaccadic and a slow postsaccadic vergence component and were most accurate. During memory-guided gaze shifts, the abducting eye was more accurate than the adducting eye. Distance correction was achieved by slow postsaccadic vergence of the adducting eye. Memory-guided gaze shifts that required convergence lacked an intrasaccadic vergence component and were less accurate compared to memory-guided gaze shifts that required divergence.

Conclusions: Visually guided binocular gaze shifts are faster and more accurate than memory-guided binocular gaze shifts. During memory-guided gaze shifts, the abducting eye has a leading role, and an intrasaccadic vergence enhancement during convergence is reduced.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1167/iovs.12-10680DOI Listing

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