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Microsaccade rate activity during the preparation of pro- and antisaccades

Sofia Krasovskaya Orcid Logo, Árni Kristjánsson, Joe MacInnes Orcid Logo

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics

Swansea University Author: Joe MacInnes Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3758/s13414-023-02731-3

Abstract

Microsaccades belong to the category of fixational micromovements and may be crucial for image stability on the retina. Eye movement paradigms typically require fixational control, but this does not eliminate all oculomotor activity. The antisaccade task requires a planned eye movement in the direct...

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Published in: Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics
ISSN: 1943-3921 1943-393X
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63626
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Abstract: Microsaccades belong to the category of fixational micromovements and may be crucial for image stability on the retina. Eye movement paradigms typically require fixational control, but this does not eliminate all oculomotor activity. The antisaccade task requires a planned eye movement in the direction opposite of an onset, allowing separation of planning and execution. We build on previous studies of microsaccades in the antisaccade task using a combination of fixed and mixed pro- and antisaccade blocks. We hypothesized that microsaccade rates may be reduced prior to the execution of antisaccades as compared with regular saccades (prosaccades). In two experiments, we measured microsaccades in four conditions across three trial blocks: one block each of fixed prosaccade and antisaccade trials, and a mixed block where both saccade types were randomized. We anticipated that microsaccade rates would be higher prior to antisaccades than prosaccades due to the need to preemptively suppress reflexive saccades during antisaccade generation. In Experiment 1, with monocular eye tracking, there was an interaction between the effects of saccade and block type on microsaccade rates, suggesting lower rates on antisaccade trials, but only within mixed blocks. In Experiment 2, eye tracking was binocular, revealing suppressed microsaccade rates on antisaccade trials. A cluster permutation analysis of the microsaccade rate over the course of a trial did not reveal any particular critical time for this difference in microsaccade rates. Our findings suggest that microsaccade rates reflect the degree of suppression of the oculomotor system during the antisaccade task.
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: Data collection and analysis were partially funded by the University of Iceland's research fund, the Icelandic Research Fund and the HSE academic fund program for the scientific research lab “Vision Modelling Lab.”

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