scholarly journals The effect of subliminal incentives on goal-directed eye movements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasko Kilian Hinze ◽  
Ozge Uslu ◽  
Jessica Emily Antono ◽  
Melanie Wilke ◽  
Arezoo Pooresmaeili
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Peak Velocity ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Goal Pursuit ◽  
Sensitive Indicator ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Fixed Amount ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Monetary Gain

Over the last decades, several studies have demonstrated that conscious and unconscious reward incentives both affect performance in physical and cognitive tasks, suggesting that goal-pursuit can arise from an unconscious will. Whether the planning of goal-directed saccadic eye movements during an effortful task can also be affected by subliminal reward cues has not been systematically investigated. We employed a novel task where participants made several eye movements back and forth between a fixation point and a number of peripheral targets. The total number of targets visited by the eyes in a fixed amount of time determined participants' monetary gain. The magnitude of the reward at stake was briefly shown at the beginning of each trial and masked by pattern images superimposed in time so that at shorter display durations participants perceived reward incentives subliminally. We found a main effect of reward across all display durations as higher reward enhanced participants' oculomotor effort measured as the frequency and peak velocity of saccades. This effect was strongest for consciously perceived rewards but also occurred when rewards were subliminally perceived. Although we did not find a statistically significant dissociation between the reward-related modulation of different saccadic parameters, across two experiments the most robust effect of subliminal rewards was observed for the modulation of the saccadic frequency but not the peak velocity. These results suggest that multiple indices of oculomotor effort can be incentivized by subliminal rewards and that saccadic frequency may provide the most sensitive indicator of subliminal incentivization of eye movements.

scholarly journals Dissociable effects of subliminal incentives on initiation and velocity control of goal-directed eye movements

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasko Kilian Hinze ◽  
Ozge Uslu ◽  
Jessica Emily Antono ◽  
Melanie Wilke ◽  
Arezoo Pooresmaeili
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Peak Velocity ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Goal Pursuit ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Velocity Control ◽  
Fixed Amount ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
Monetary Gain

AbstractOver the last decades, several studies have demonstrated that conscious and unconscious reward incentives both affect performance in physical and cognitive tasks, suggesting that goal-pursuit can arise from an unconscious will. Whether the planning of goal-directed saccadic eye movements during an effortful task can also be affected by subliminal reward cues has not been systematically investigated. We employed a novel task where participants had to make several eye movements back and forth between a fixation point and a number of peripheral targets. The total number of targets visited by the eyes in a fixed amount of time determined participants’ monetary gain. The magnitude of the reward at stake was briefly shown at the beginning of each trial and was masked by pattern images superimposed in time. We found that when reward cues were fully visible and thus consciously perceived, higher reward enhanced all saccade parameters. However, a dissociation was observed between the effects of subliminal rewards on saccade initiation and peak velocities. While truly subliminal reward cues did increase the number of saccades, they did not enhance saccades’ peak velocity. Additionally, participants who had reached a truly subliminal level of reward perception showed a decrement in accuracy as a function of reward across all visibility levels, as saccade endpoint error was larger when higher reward incentives were expected. This suboptimal speed-accuracy trade-off did not occur in the supraliminal group. These results suggest that although saccades’ initiation can be triggered by subconscious mechanisms, conscious awareness is required to optimally adjust the velocity and accuracy of eye movements based on the expected rewards.

Visual Fatigue and Saccadic Eye Movement Parameters

1983 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 728-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted Megaw ◽  
Tayyar Sen
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Peak Velocity ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Tracking Task ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Fatigue ◽  
Movement Parameters

It has been suggested by Bahill and Stark (1975) that visual fatigue can be identified by changes in some of the saccadic eye movement parameters. These include increases in the frequency of occurrence of glissades and overlapping saccades and reductions in the peak velocity and duration of saccades. In their study, fatigue was induced by the same step tracking task that was used to evaluate the changes in saccadic parameters. However, there is evidence that subjects experience extreme feelings of fatigue while performing such a task and that somehow the task is unnatural. The present study was designed to assess whether there are any differences in the various saccadic parameters obtained while subjects perform a step tracking task and a cognitive task involving the comparison of number strings. Both tasks were presented on a VDU screen. The second objective was to establish whether there are any changes in the parameters for either task as a result of prolonged performance. The results showed no major differences in the saccadic eye movements between the two tasks and no consistent changes resulting from prolonged performance.

Properties of Horizontal Saccades Accompanied by Blinks

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 2895-2902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus G. Rottach ◽  
Vallabh E. Das ◽  
Walter Wohlgemuth ◽  
Ari Z. Zivotofsky ◽  
R. John Leigh
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Peak Velocity ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Stationary Target ◽  
Normal Human ◽  
The Right ◽  
Straight Ahead ◽  
Omnipause Neurons

Rottach, Klaus G., Vallabh E. Das, Walter Wohlgemuth, Ari Z. Zivotofsky, and R. John Leigh. Properties of horizontal saccades accompanied by blinks. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 2895–2902, 1998. Using the magnetic search coil technique to record eye and lid movements, we investigated the effect of voluntary blinks on horizontal saccades in five normal human subjects. The main goal of the study was to determine whether changes in the dynamics of saccades with blinks could be accounted for by a superposition of the eye movements induced by blinks as subjects fixated a stationary target and saccadic movements made without a blink. First, subjects made voluntary blinks as they fixed on stationary targets located straight ahead or 20° to the right or left. They then made saccades between two continuously visible targets 20 or 40° apart, while either attempting not to blink, or voluntarily blinking, with each saccade. During fixation of a target located straight ahead, blinks induced brief downward and nasalward deflections of eye position. When subjects looked at targets located at right or left 20°, similar initial movements were made by four of the subjects, but the amplitude of the adducted eye was reduced by 65% and was followed by a larger temporalward movement. Blinks caused substantial changes in the dynamic properties of saccades. For 20° saccades made with blinks, peak velocity and peak acceleration were decreased by ∼20% in all subjects compared with saccades made without blinks. Blinks caused the duration of 20° saccades to increase, on average, by 36%. On the other hand, blinks had only small effects on the gain of saccades. Blinks had little influence on the relative velocities of centrifugal versus centripetal saccades, and abducting versus adducting saccades. Three of five subjects showed a significantly increased incidence of dynamic overshoot in saccades accompanied by blinks, especially for 20° movements. Taken with other evidence, this finding suggests that saccadic omnipause neurons are inhibited by blinks, which have longer duration than the saccades that company them. In conclusion, the changes in dynamic properties of saccades brought about by blinks cannot be accounted for simply by a summation of gaze perturbations produced by blinks during fixation and saccadic eye movements made without blinks. Our findings, especially the appearance of dynamic overshoots, suggest that blinks affect the central programming of saccades. These effects of blinks need to be taken into account during studies of the dynamic properties of saccades.

Impairment of Saccadic Eye Movements by Scopolamine Treatment

1993 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia A. Oliva ◽  
Maria P. Bucci ◽  
Roberto Fioravanti
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Intramuscular Injection ◽  
Peak Velocity ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Random Time ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Random Time Interval ◽  
Standard Deviations

The effects of Scopolamine on the dynamics of saccadic eye movements, stimulated over a random time interval, have been investigated in humans. A 0.5-mg dose of the drug (intramuscular injection) had various influences on the basic saccadic parameters. For all subjects duration increased and peak velocity decreased, while for 50% of the subjects saccades became hypometric and latency increased. Standard deviations increased consistently too. Moreover, the Scopolamine treatment affected postsaccadic fixation; at the end of many saccades, the eye drifted considerably, but stability was recovered after a few seconds.

scholarly journals Effects of lorazepam on saccadic eye movements: the role of sex, task characteristics and baseline traits

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 678-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Ettinger ◽  
Inga Meyhöfer ◽  
Mitul A Mehta ◽  
Veena Kumari ◽  
Philip J Corr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Peak Velocity ◽  
Drug Effects ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Task Characteristics ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Spatial Consistency ◽  
Within Subjects ◽  
Dose Dependent

Background: Saccadic eye movements are controlled by a network of parietal, frontal, striatal, cerebellar and brainstem regions. The saccadic peak velocity is an established biomarker of benzodiazepine effects, with benzodiazepines reliably reducing the peak velocity. Aims: In this study, we aimed to replicate the effects of benzodiazepines on peak velocity and we investigated effects on previously less studied measures of saccades. We also explored the roles of sex, task characteristics and the baseline variables age, intelligence and trait anxiety in these effects. Method: Healthy adults ( N = 34) performed a horizontal step prosaccade task under 1 mg lorazepam, 2 mg lorazepam and placebo in a double-blind, within-subjects design. Results: We replicated the dose-dependent reduction in peak velocity with lorazepam and showed that this effect is stronger for saccades to targets at smaller eccentricities. We also demonstrated that this effect is independent of sex and other baseline variables. Lorazepam effects were widespread, however, occurring on mean and variability measures of most saccadic variables. Additionally, there were sex-dependent lorazepam effects on spatial consistency of saccades, indicating more adverse effects in females. Conclusions: We conclude that saccadic peak velocity is a sensitive and robust biomarker of benzodiazepine effects. However, lorazepam has pronounced effects also on other parameters of horizontal saccades. Sex-dependent drug effects on spatial consistency may reflect cerebellar mechanisms, given the role of the cerebellum in saccadic spatial accuracy.

scholarly journals Changes in the disparity vergence main sequence after treatment of symptomatic convergence insufficiency in children

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell Scheiman ◽  
Chang Yaramothu ◽  
Tara L. Alvarez
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Neural Control ◽  
Main Sequence ◽  
Peak Velocity ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Prospective Trial ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Response Amplitude ◽  
Time To Peak ◽  
Convergence Insufficiency

This study investigates the underlying physiological mechanisms that may lead to improved outcomes for symptomatic convergence insufficiency (CI) patients after 12 weeks of office-based vergence/accommodation therapy (OBVAT) by evaluating the change in the main sequence of vergence and saccadic eye movements. In this prospective trial, 12 participants with symptomatic CI were recruited and treated with 12 weeks of OBVAT. Outcome measures included the objective assessment of the following: peak velocity, time to peak velocity, latency, response amplitude, and clinical changes in the near point of convergence (NPC), positive fusional vergence (PFV) and symptoms via the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS). Ten of the twelve participants (83%) were categorized as “successful” and two were “improved” based on pre-determined published criteria (CISS, NPC, PFV). There were statistically significant changes in peak velocity, time to peak velocity, and response amplitude for both 4° and 6° symmetrical convergence and divergence eye movements. There was a significant change in the main sequence ratio for convergence post-OBVAT compared to baseline measurements (P=0.007) but not for divergence or saccadic responses. Phasic/step vergence movements adjust the underlying neural control of convergence and are critical within a vision therapy program for CI patients.

scholarly journals Intrasaccadic perception triggers pupillary constriction

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastiaan Mathôt ◽  
Jean-Baptiste Melmi ◽  
Eric Castet
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Peak Velocity ◽  
Visual Awareness ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Pupillary Response ◽  
Subjective Report ◽  
Vertical Grating ◽  
Pupillary Constriction ◽  
Eye Velocity

It is commonly believed that vision is impaired during saccadic eye movements. However, here we report that some visual stimuli are clearly visible during saccades, and trigger a constriction of the eye's pupil. Participants viewed sinusoid gratings that changed polarity 150 times per second (every 6.67 ms). At this rate of flicker, the gratings were perceived as homogeneous surfaces while participants fixated. However, the flickering gratings contained ambiguous motion: rightward and leftward motion for vertical gratings; upward and downward motion for horizontal gratings. When participants made a saccade perpendicular to the gratings' orientation (e.g., a leftward saccade for a vertical grating), the eye's peak velocity matched the gratings' motion. As a result, the retinal image was approximately stable for a brief moment during the saccade, and this gave rise to an intrasaccadic percept: A normally invisible stimulus became visible when eye velocity was maximal. Our results confirm and extend previous studies by demonstrating intrasaccadic perception using a reflexive measure (pupillometry) that does not rely on subjective report. Our results further show that intrasaccadic perception affects all stages of visual processing, from the pupillary response to visual awareness.

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