Recent studies of eye movements in reading and other information processing tasks, such as music reading, typing, visual search, and scene perception, are reviewed. The major emphasis of the review is on reading as a specific example of cognitive processing. Basic topics discussed with respect to reading are (a) the characteristics of eye movements, (b) the perceptual span, (c) integration of information across saccades, (d) eye movement control, and (e) individual differences (including dyslexia). Similar topics are discussed with respect to the other tasks examined. The basic theme of the review is that eye movement data reflect moment-to-moment cognitive processes in the various tasks examined. Theoretical and practical considerations concerning the use of eye movement data are also discussed.

/pdf/eye-movements-in-reading-and-information-processing-20-years-3z5ay8hdwc.pdf

Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research.

When we make saccadic eye movements or goal-directed arm movements, there is an infinite number of possible trajectories that the eye or arm could take to reach the target1,2. However, humans show highly stereotyped trajectories in which velocity profiles of both the eye and hand are smooth and symmetric for brief movements3,4. Here we present a unifying theory of eye and arm movements based on the single physiological assumption that the neural control signals are corrupted by noise whose variance increases with the size of the control signal. We propose that in the presence of such signal-dependent noise, the shape of a trajectory is selected to minimize the variance of the final eye or arm position. This minimum-variance theory accurately predicts the trajectories of both saccades and arm movements and the speed–accuracy trade-off described by Fitt's law5. These profiles are robust to changes in the dynamics of the eye or arm, as found empirically6,7. Moreover, the relation between path curvature and hand velocity during drawing movements reproduces the empirical ‘two-thirds power law’8,9. This theory provides a simple and powerful unifying perspective for both eye and arm movement control.

Signal-dependent noise determines motor planning

Event-related potentials ~ERPs! recorded from the human scalp can provide important information about how the human brain normally processes information and about how this processing may go awry in neurological or psychiatric disorders. Scientists using or studying ERPs must strive to overcome the many technical problems that can occur in the recording and analysis of these potentials. The methods and the results of these ERP studies must be published in a way that allows other scientists to understand exactly what was done so that they can, if necessary, replicate the experiments. The data must then be analyzed and presented in a way that allows different studies to be compared readily. This paper presents guidelines for recording ERPs and criteria for publishing the results.

/pdf/guidelines-for-using-human-event-related-potentials-to-study-4ls0lbji26.pdf

Guidelines for using human event-related potentials to study cognition: Recording standards and publication criteria

Implantation of magnetic search coils for measurement of eye position: an improved method.

Eye movements evoked by collicular stimulation in the alert monkey

Precise recording of human eye movements

1. The binocular co-ordination of human horizontal saccades was analysed for the first time systematically over the full oculomotor range with a precise and accurate scleral sensor coil technique. Effects of amplitude (1.25-80 deg), direction (adduction vs. abduction and centrifugal vs. centripetal) and eccentricity (symmetrical about primary or between primary and secondary positions) were systematically investigated in three subjects). 2. To minimize extraneous effects of stimulus presentation on the programming of saccades, subjects were instructed to voluntarily change their gaze between two continuously visible targets. These were positioned on an iso-vergence locus, and thus contained no stimulus for disjunctive eye movements. 3. Under these conditions the amplitudes of the primary saccades of the two eyes were remarkably accurate; undershooting of the target by about 0.5 deg (independent of amplitude in the range 10-70 deg) was typical. This finding contrasts with the undershooting by about 10% described in the literature as characteristic for other stimulus conditions. 4. Saccadic peak velocities saturated at a mean asymptotic level of 502 +/- 32 (S.D.) deg/s for saccades of 40 deg and larger. The duration was linearly related to amplitude for saccades up to 50 deg; for saccades of larger sizes the duration increased progressively more steeply. Skewness values (acceleration time as a fraction of total saccadic duration) decreased from about 0.45 for saccades up to 10 deg to about 0.20 for saccades of 50 deg and larger. 5. Binocular saccades showed an abduction-adduction asymmetry and were not well yoked dynamically. The saccades of the abducting eye consistently had a larger size, a higher peak velocity, a shorter duration and were more skewed than the concomitant adducting saccades of the fellow eye. As a result, the eyes diverged transiently by as much as 3 deg during horizontal saccades. 6. Saccades also showed a marked centrifugal-centripetal asymmetry. Peak velocities of saccades towards the primary position were about 10% higher than peak velocities of corresponding centrifugal saccades. 7. These directional asymmetries were the main source of variability in the pool of saccades. In comparison, intra- and intersubject variability was minor in our sample. 8. Post-saccadic drift consisted of a vergence and a version component. The vergence component of this drift was a continuation of the vergence movement occurring during saccades. The version component, generally smaller than the vergence component, was directed towards the target position.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Binocular co-ordination of human horizontal saccadic eye movements.

Horizontal and vertical eye movements of ten human subjects were recorded with a scleral induction-coil technique during voluntary pursuit of sinusoidal, triangular and pseudo-random target motions of different frequency, amplitude and dimensionality upon a dark, diffuse or structured background. Data processing included separation of the composite eye movement into a cumulative smooth and saccadic displacement, computation of gain and phase of the composite and smooth eye movements with respect to the target movement and analysis of retinal position error. Pursuit eye movements were never completely smooth. Smooth pursuit gain was always lower than 0.95 and saccades were used to supplement the smooth eye movements in pursuing the target with the proper amplitude. The gain of composite eye movements was about unity for sinusoidal target motions and ramps; it exceeded unity for the highest frequency components in a pseudo-random motion. The gain of the smooth eye movements decreased monotonously whenever target velocity increased. It was higher for single sine waves than for a pseudo-random motion, however, with pseudo-random motion it was relatively higher for the higher frequency components. Phase lags were in general smaller for single sine waves than for pseudo-random motion, but for the latter a phase lead of the smooth component was consistently found for the lower frequency components. During pursuit of a rhomboid trajectory, the eye movements showed directional errors which are interpreted as anticipatory behaviour. The distribution of the retinal error was symmetrical around zero. Its standard deviation varied between about 0.2 and 1.3 degrees; it was about proportional to target velocity and inversely proportional to smooth pursuit gain. It was limited by the insertion of saccades which were in general corrective. The influence of a diffusely illuminated background was minimal. A structured background inhibited smooth pursuit in the horizontal direction by about 10% and in the vertical direction by about 20%. This deficit of smooth pursuit was fully compensated by the insertion of more saccades and had no consequences for the standard deviation of the retinal error. The type of structure of the background was only of marginal importance. Horizontal pursuit was in general slightly smoother and more precise than vertical pursuit.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1113/jphysiol.1984.sp015242

Human smooth and saccadic eye movements during voluntary pursuit of different target motions on different backgrounds.

Static and dynamic components of ocular counterroll as well as cyclorotatory optokinetic nystagmus were measured with a scleral search coil technique. Static counterroll compensated for about 10% of head roll when the head was tilted to steady positions up to 20 deg from the upright position. The dynamic component of counterroll, which occurs only while the head is moving, is much larger. It consists of smooth compensatory cyclorotation opposite to the head rotation, interrupted frequently by saccades moving in the same direction as the head. During voluntary sinusoidal head roll, cyclorotation compensated from 40% to more than 70% of the head motion. In the range 0.16 to 1.33 Hz, gain increased with frequency and with the amount of visual information. The lowest values were found in darkness. The gain increased in the presence of a visual fixation point and a further rise was induced by a structured visual pattern. Resetting saccades were made more frequently in the dark than in the light. These saccades were somewhat slower than typical horizontal saccades. Cyclorotatory optokinetic nystagmus could be induced by a patterned disk rotating around the visual axis. It was highly variable even within a same subject and had in general a very low gain (mean value about 0.03 for stimulus velocities up to 30 deg/s). It is concluded that cyclorotational slip velocity on the retina is considerably reduced by counterroll during roll of the head, although the residual cyclorotation after the head has reached a steady position is very small.

Han Collewijn

Papers

Precise recording of human eye movements

Binocular co-ordination of human horizontal saccadic eye movements.

Human smooth and saccadic eye movements during voluntary pursuit of different target motions on different backgrounds.

Human ocular counterroll: assessment of static and dynamic properties from electromagnetic scleral coil recordings.

Direction-selective units in the rabbit's nucleus of the optic tract.