scholarly journals Extraction of saccades from eye movements triggered by reflex blinks

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Uday K. Jagadisan ◽  
Neeraj J. Gandhi
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Mathematical Formulation ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
Blink Reflex ◽  
Eyelid Closure ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Saccadic System ◽  
Neural Signatures

AbstractThe trigeminal blink reflex can be evoked by delivering an air puff to the eye. If timed appropriately, e.g., during motor preparation, the small, loopy blink-related eye movement (BREM) associated with eyelid closure disinhibits the saccadic system and reduces the reaction time of planned eye movements. The BREM and intended eye movement overlap temporally, thus a mathematical formulation is required to objectively extract saccade features – onset time and velocity profile – from the combined movement. While it has been assumed that the interactions are nonlinear, we show that blink-triggered movements can be modeled as a linear combination of a typical BREM and a normal saccade, crucially, with an imposed delay between the two components. Saccades reconstructed with this approach are largely similar to control movements in their temporal and spatial profiles. Furthermore, activity profiles of saccade-related bursts in superior colliculus neurons for the recovered saccades closely match those for normal saccades. Thus, blink perturbations, if properly accounted for, offer a non-invasive tool to probe the behavioral and neural signatures of sensory-to-motor transformations.New and noteworthyThe trigeminal blink reflex is a brief noninvasive perturbation that disinhibits the saccadic system and provides a behavioral readout of the latent motor preparation process. The saccade, however, is combined with a loopy blink related eye movement. Here, we provide a mathematical formulation to extract the saccade from the combined movement. Thus, blink perturbations, when properly accounted for, offer a non-invasive tool to probe the behavioral and neural signatures of sensory-to-motor transformations.

Modeling the Effects of Time pressure and Feedback on Eye movements and Learning Performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 671-675
Author(s):  
Ji-Eun Kim ◽  
David A. Nembhard
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Learning Performance ◽  
Task Completion ◽  
Individualized Learning ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
The Relationship

Eye movement measurement is both non-invasive to the learner, and available at a cost that is steadily decreasing. There are currently several mainstream laptop computers on the market that ship with fully integrated eye-tracking. Eye movements will take on a role as inputs to predict individualized learning performance. In response to the increased usage of this tool, this study uses eye-tracking technology to investigate the effects of time pressure and feedback on changes in eye movement by generating structural models. We tracked participants’ eye movement, and to relate this eye movement to human learning behaviors while participants were asked to complete online training for a Project Management task. The study measured participants’ eye-movements in response to the amount of time to deadlines and feedback updating the remaining time. Results showed that eye movement partially mediated the relationship between time to deadline and task completion time. The results of the study will be advantageous in predicting individualized learning performance based on eye movements.

Neurophysiological Aspects of Eye and Eyelid Movements During Blinking in Humans

2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Bour ◽  
M. Aramideh ◽  
B. W. Ongerboer De Visser
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Nerve Stimulation ◽  
Rectus Muscle ◽  
Blink Reflex ◽  
Reflex Response ◽  
Neural Structure ◽  
Upper Eyelid ◽  
Supraorbital Nerve ◽  
Movement Component

The neural relationships between eyelid movements and eye movements during spontaneous, voluntary, and reflex blinking in a group of healthy subjects were examined. Electromyographic (EMG) recording of the orbicularis oculi (OO) muscles was performed using surface electrodes. Concurrently, horizontal and vertical eye positions were recorded by means of the double magnetic induction (DMI) ring method. In addition, movement of the upper eyelid was measured by a specially designed search coil, placed on the upper eyelid. The reflex blink was elicited electrically by supraorbital nerve stimulation either on the right or the left side. It is found that disconjugate oblique eye movements accompany spontaneous, voluntary as well as reflex blinking. Depending on the gaze position before blinking, the amplitude of horizontal and vertical components of the eye movement during blinking varies in a systematic way. With adduction and downward gaze the amplitude is minimal. With abduction the horizontal amplitude increases, whereas with upward gaze the vertical amplitude increases. Unilateral electrical supraorbital nerve stimulation at low currents elicits eye movements with a bilateral late component. At stimulus intensities approximately two to three times above the threshold, the early ipsilateral blink reflex response (R1) in the OO muscle can be observed together with an early ipsilateral eye movement component at a latency of ∼15 ms. In addition, during the electrical blink reflex, early ipsilateral and late bilateral components can also be identified in the upper eyelid movement. In contrast to the late bilateral component of upper eyelid movement, the early ipsilateral component of upper eyelid movement appears to open the eye to a greater degree. This early ipsilateral component of upper eyelid movement occurs more or less simultaneously with the early eye movement component. It is suggested that both early ipsilateral movements following electrical stimulation do not have a central neural origin. Late components of the eye movements slightly precede the late components of the eyelid movement. Synchrony between late components of eyelid movements and eye movements as well as similarity of oblique eye movement components in different types of blinking suggest the existence of a premotor neural structure acting as a generator that coordinates impulses to different subnuclei of the oculomotor nucleus as well as the facial nerve nucleus during blinking independent from the ocular saccadic and/or vergence system. The profile and direction of the eye movement rotation during blinking gives support to the idea that it may be secondary to eyeball retraction; an extra cocontraction of the inferior and superior rectus muscle would be sufficient to explain both eye retraction and rotation in the horizontal vertical and torsional planes.

Using Eye-Tracking to Study Audio — Visual Perceptual Integration

Perception ◽  
10.1068/p5731 ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 1391-1395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Xiao ◽  
May Wong ◽  
Michelle Umali ◽  
Marc Pomplun
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Motion ◽  
Conscious Experience ◽  
Onset Time ◽  
Target Position ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Auditory Cues ◽  
Perceptual Integration ◽  
Additional Information

Perceptual integration of audio—visual stimuli is fundamental to our everyday conscious experience. Eye-movement analysis may be a suitable tool for studying such integration, since eye movements respond to auditory as well as visual input. Previous studies have shown that additional auditory cues in visual-search tasks can guide eye movements more efficiently and reduce their latency. However, these auditory cues were task-relevant since they indicated the target position and onset time. Therefore, the observed effects may have been due to subjects using the cues as additional information to maximize their performance, without perceptually integrating them with the visual displays. Here, we combine a visual-tracking task with a continuous, task-irrelevant sound from a stationary source to demonstrate that audio—visual perceptual integration affects low-level oculomotor mechanisms. Auditory stimuli of constant, increasing, or decreasing pitch were presented. All sound categories induced more smooth-pursuit eye movement than silence, with the greatest effect occurring with stimuli of increasing pitch. A possible explanation is that integration of the visual scene with continuous sound creates the perception of continuous visual motion. Increasing pitch may amplify this effect through its common association with accelerating motion.

BAER, EOG, MRI AND 3-D MR Angiography Correlates in a Case of Locked-ln Syndrome

1994 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
Jaime T. Benitez ◽  
Raina M. Ernstoff ◽  
Ay-Ming Wang ◽  
Michael D. Arsenault
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Basilar Artery ◽  
Mr Angiography ◽  
Brain Lesions ◽  
Fast Component ◽  
Vascular Pathology ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Bilateral Involvement ◽  
Upbeat Nystagmus

A case of Locked-in syndrome is reported with correlation of BAER and EOG with MRI for localization and identification of brain lesions, and 3-D MRA and 2-D gradient echoMR imaging, a non-invasive newdiagnostic modality for confirmation and visualization of vascular pathology. There was thrombosis of the basilar artery with extensive infarct of ventral pons and lower mid-brain. The patient had ocular bobbing. This eye movement in its classical formconsists of irregular vertical oscillations, the fast component being downward with complete absence of horizontal eye movements. To our knowledge, the change from ocular bobbing to upbeat nystagmus has not been previously reported in the Locked-in syndrome. Bilateral involvement of the lateral lemniscus might have contributed to its appearance in our patient.

scholarly journals Eye-movement intervention enhances extinction via amygdala deactivation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lycia D. de Voogd ◽  
Jonathan W. Kanen ◽  
David A. Neville ◽  
Karin Roelofs ◽  
Guillén Fernández ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Effective Connectivity ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Fear Learning ◽  
Extinction Learning ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Behavioral Studies ◽  
Traumatic Symptoms

AbstractImproving extinction learning is essential to optimize psychotherapy for persistent fear-related disorders. In two independent studies (both n=24), we found that goal-directed eye movements activate a dorsal fronto-parietal network and transiently deactivate the amygdala. Connectivity analyses revealed this down-regulation engages a ventromedial prefrontal pathway known to be involved in cognitive regulation of emotion. Critically, when eye movements followed memory reactivation during extinction learning, this reduced spontaneous fear recovery 24 hours later. Stronger amygdala deactivation furthermore predicted a stronger reduction in subsequent fear recovery after reinstatement. In conclusion, we show that extinction learning can be improved with a non-invasive eye-movement intervention that triggers a transient suppression of the amygdala. Our finding that another task which taxes working memory leads to a similar amygdala suppression furthermore indicates that this effect is likely not specific to eye movements, which is in line with a large body of behavioral studies. This study contributes to the understanding of a widely used treatment for traumatic symptoms by providing a parsimonious account for how working memory tasks and goal-directed eye movements can enhance extinction-based psychotherapy, namely through neural circuits similar to those that support cognitive control of emotion.Significant statementFear-related disorders represent a significant burden on individual sufferers and society. There is a high need to optimize treatment, in particular via non-invasive means. One potentially effective intervention is execution of eye movements following trauma recall. However, a neurobiological understanding of how eye movements can reduce traumatic symptoms is lacking. We demonstrate that goal-directed eye-movements, like working memory tasks, deactivate the amygdala, the core neural substrate of fear learning. Effective connectivity analyses revealed amygdala deactivation engaged dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal pathways. When applied during safety learning, this deactivation predicts a reduction in later fear recovery. These findings provide a parsimonious and mechanistic account of how behavioral manipulations taxing working memory and suppress amygdala activity can alter retention of emotional memories.

Age Differences in Eye Movements During Reading: Degenerative Problems or Compensatory Strategy?

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-311
Author(s):  
José David Moreno ◽  
José A. León ◽  
Lorena A. M. Arnal ◽  
Juan Botella
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Aging Effects ◽  
Movement Data ◽  
Sentence Reading ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Eye Movements During Reading

Abstract. We report the results of a meta-analysis of 22 experiments comparing the eye movement data obtained from young ( Mage = 21 years) and old ( Mage = 73 years) readers. The data included six eye movement measures (mean gaze duration, mean fixation duration, total sentence reading time, mean number of fixations, mean number of regressions, and mean length of progressive saccade eye movements). Estimates were obtained of the typified mean difference, d, between the age groups in all six measures. The results showed positive combined effect size estimates in favor of the young adult group (between 0.54 and 3.66 in all measures), although the difference for the mean number of fixations was not significant. Young adults make in a systematic way, shorter gazes, fewer regressions, and shorter saccadic movements during reading than older adults, and they also read faster. The meta-analysis results confirm statistically the most common patterns observed in previous research; therefore, eye movements seem to be a useful tool to measure behavioral changes due to the aging process. Moreover, these results do not allow us to discard either of the two main hypotheses assessed for explaining the observed aging effects, namely neural degenerative problems and the adoption of compensatory strategies.

scholarly journals Eye Movements in Response to Pain-Related Feelings in the Presence of Low and High Cognitive Loads

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 92
Author(s):  
Ramtin Zargari Marandi ◽  
Camilla Ann Fjelsted ◽  
Iris Hrustanovic ◽  
Rikke Dan Olesen ◽  
Parisa Gazerani
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Load Level ◽  
Task Load ◽  
Pupillary Responses ◽  
Movement Characteristics

The affective dimension of pain contributes to pain perception. Cognitive load may influence pain-related feelings. Eye tracking has proven useful for detecting cognitive load effects objectively by using relevant eye movement characteristics. In this study, we investigated whether eye movement characteristics differ in response to pain-related feelings in the presence of low and high cognitive loads. A set of validated, control, and pain-related sounds were applied to provoke pain-related feelings. Twelve healthy young participants (six females) performed a cognitive task at two load levels, once with the control and once with pain-related sounds in a randomized order. During the tasks, eye movements and task performance were recorded. Afterwards, the participants were asked to fill out questionnaires on their pain perception in response to the applied cognitive loads. Our findings indicate that an increased cognitive load was associated with a decreased saccade peak velocity, saccade frequency, and fixation frequency, as well as an increased fixation duration and pupil dilation range. Among the oculometrics, pain-related feelings were reflected only in the pupillary responses to a low cognitive load. The performance and perceived cognitive load decreased and increased, respectively, with the task load level and were not influenced by the pain-related sounds. Pain-related feelings were lower when performing the task compared with when no task was being performed in an independent group of participants. This might be due to the cognitive engagement during the task. This study demonstrated that cognitive processing could moderate the feelings associated with pain perception.

scholarly journals Role of Primate Cerebellar Hemisphere in Voluntary Eye Movement Control Revealed by Lesion Effects

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 934-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masafumi Ohki ◽  
Hiromasa Kitazawa ◽  
Takahito Hiramatsu ◽  
Kimitake Kaga ◽  
Taiko Kitamura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Smooth Pursuit ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Cerebellar Hemisphere ◽  
Target Velocity ◽  
Eye Movement Control ◽  
Pursuit Eye Movements ◽  
Catch Up

The anatomical connection between the frontal eye field and the cerebellar hemispheric lobule VII (H-VII) suggests a potential role of the hemisphere in voluntary eye movement control. To reveal the involvement of the hemisphere in smooth pursuit and saccade control, we made a unilateral lesion around H-VII and examined its effects in three Macaca fuscata that were trained to pursue visually a small target. To the step (3°)-ramp (5–20°/s) target motion, the monkeys usually showed an initial pursuit eye movement at a latency of 80–140 ms and a small catch-up saccade at 140–220 ms that was followed by a postsaccadic pursuit eye movement that roughly matched the ramp target velocity. After unilateral cerebellar hemispheric lesioning, the initial pursuit eye movements were impaired, and the velocities of the postsaccadic pursuit eye movements decreased. The onsets of 5° visually guided saccades to the stationary target were delayed, and their amplitudes showed a tendency of increased trial-to-trial variability but never became hypo- or hypermetric. Similar tendencies were observed in the onsets and amplitudes of catch-up saccades. The adaptation of open-loop smooth pursuit velocity, tested by a step increase in target velocity for a brief period, was impaired. These lesion effects were recognized in all directions, particularly in the ipsiversive direction. A recovery was observed at 4 wk postlesion for some of these lesion effects. These results suggest that the cerebellar hemispheric region around lobule VII is involved in the control of smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements.

scholarly journals Fixation eye movement abnormalities and stereopsis recovery following strabismus repair

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Talora L. Martin ◽  
Jordan Murray ◽  
Kiran Garg ◽  
Charles Gallagher ◽  
Aasef G. Shaikh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Functional Improvement ◽  
Slow Phase ◽  
Fixational Eye Movements ◽  
Movement Characteristics ◽  
Adaptive Mechanisms ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Gaze Holding ◽  
Fixational Saccades

AbstractWe evaluated the effects of strabismus repair on fixational eye movements (FEMs) and stereopsis recovery in patients with fusion maldevelopment nystagmus (FMN) and patients without nystagmus. Twenty-one patients with strabismus, twelve with FMN and nine without nystagmus, were tested before and after strabismus repair. Eye-movements were recorded during a gaze-holding task under monocular viewing conditions. Fast (fixational saccades and quick phases of nystagmus) and slow (inter-saccadic drifts and slow phases of nystagmus) FEMs and bivariate contour ellipse area (BCEA) were analyzed in the viewing and non-viewing eye. Strabismus repair improved the angle of strabismus in subjects with and without FMN, however patients without nystagmus were more likely to have improvement in stereoacuity. The fixational saccade amplitudes and intersaccadic drift velocities in both eyes decreased after strabismus repair in subjects without nystagmus. The slow phase velocities were higher in patients with FMN compared to inter-saccadic drifts in patients without nystagmus. There was no change in the BCEA after surgery in either group. In patients without nystagmus, the improvement of the binocular function (stereopsis), as well as decreased fixational saccade amplitude and intersaccadic drift velocity, could be due, at least partially, to central adaptive mechanisms rendered possible by surgical realignment of the eyes. The absence of improvement in patients with FMN post strabismus repair likely suggests the lack of such adaptive mechanisms in patients with early onset infantile strabismus. Assessment of fixation eye movement characteristics can be a useful tool to predict functional improvement post strabismus repair.

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