Microsaccades: A microcosm for research on oculomotor control, attention, and visual perception

Prog Brain Res. 2006:154:177-92. doi: 10.1016/S0079-6123(06)54009-9.

Abstract

Miniature eye movements occur involuntarily during visual fixation. The most prominent contribution to these fixational eye movements is generated by microsaccades, which are rapid small-amplitude saccades with a rate of about one per second. Recent work demonstrates that microsaccades are optimized to counteract perceptual fading during perception of a stationary scene. Furthermore, microsaccades are modulated by visual attention and turned out to generate rich spatio-temporal dynamics. We conclude that the investigation of microsaccades will evolve into a new research field contributing to many facets of oculomotor control, visual perception, and the allocation of attention.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Attention / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Oculomotor Muscles
  • Psychophysics
  • Saccades / physiology*
  • Visual Perception / physiology*