{"id":550952,"date":"2023-02-23T11:48:40","date_gmt":"2023-02-23T16:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=550952"},"modified":"2023-02-28T09:18:37","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T14:18:37","slug":"fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/","title":{"rendered":"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Involuntary, fixational eye movements play a bigger role in vision than researchers previously thought.<\/h2>\n

Our eyes are never at rest. Instead, they remain in motion, even between our voluntary gaze shifts, through fixational eye movements\u2014small, continuous movements of the eye that we are not aware of making.<\/p>\n

Scientists have long sought to understand how we humans can perceive the world as stable as our eyes are constantly moving. Past research has suggested that, in the intervals between voluntary gaze shifts, the human visual system builds a picture of a stable world by relying solely on sensory inputs from fixational eye movements. According to new research by a team at the University of Rochester<\/a>, however, there may be another contributing factor.<\/p>\n

In a paper<\/a> published in Nature Communications<\/i>, the researchers\u2014including Michele Rucci<\/a>, a professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences<\/a>\u00a0and at the University\u2019s Center for Visual Science<\/a>, and first author Zhetuo Zhao, a PhD student in Rucci\u2019s lab\u2014report that the visual system not only receives sensory inputs from fixational eye movements but also possesses knowledge of the motor behavior involved in those movements.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The results have important implications in future studies of visual perception and will help in better understanding visual impairments that involve abnormal eye movements.\u201d<\/div>\n

\u201cThe human brain has a very precise knowledge of how the eyes move, even if humans are not aware of moving them, and they use this knowledge to infer spatial relations and perceive the world not as blurry but as stable,\u201d Rucci says.<\/p>\n

The results of the research reveal that spatial representations\u2014that is, the locations of objects in relation to other objects\u2014are based on a combination of sensory and motor activity from both voluntary and involuntary eye movements, which is contrary to the prevailing understanding, Rucci explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was already clear that the visual system uses sensory and motor knowledge from large voluntary movements, either gaze shifts we perform to look at different parts of a scene, or tracking movements for following moving objects,\u201d he says. \u201cBut scientists didn\u2019t think smaller, involuntary movements like fixational eye movements could be used to convey information through motor signals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, the research shows the visual system continually monitors motor activity, even when people believe they are maintaining a steady gaze. The research also shows that vision has computational strategies similar to other senses, such as touch and smell, where motor behavior profoundly affects incoming sensory signals.<\/p>\n

The results have important implications in future studies of visual perception and will help in better understanding visual impairments that involve abnormal eye movements.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur study unveils that involuntary eye movements, which are widely discarded as motor noise, make major contributions to spatial representations of the world,\u201d Zhao says. \u201cAs we show, studying spatial representations without considering motor activity\u2014as is often done in current neuroscience\u2014is severely limiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Read more<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
\n

\"insertBrief period of \u2018blindness\u2019 is essential for vision<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Rochester vision scientists uncover new information about the role of tiny \u201cfixational\u201d eye movements in enabling us to see clearly.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"Close-upWill hearing aids ever be as effective as corrective eyewear?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

To improve hearing aids, Rochester researcher Jong-Noon Nam looks to the cochlea of the inner ear.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"SeniorLab model of human eye offers hope for macular degeneration patients<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Rochester researchers\u2019 breakthrough could lead to patient-specific treatments for age-related macular degeneration.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Fixational” eye movements play a larger role in vision than previously thought, according to Rochester researchers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":551202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[22582,18672,29502,34522,18572,16072],"class_list":["post-550952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sci-tech","tag-center-for-visual-science","tag-department-of-brain-and-cognitive-sciences","tag-featured-post-side","tag-michele-rucci","tag-research-finding","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSmall, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Small, involuntary, "fixational" eye movements play a big role in vision, according to University of Rochester researchers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Small, involuntary, "fixational" eye movements play a big role in vision, according to University of Rochester researchers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-23T16:48:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-28T14:18:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"945\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lindsey Valich\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lindsey Valich\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lindsey Valich\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/fcd7d29a5b8e855924bf73b764dcd827\"},\"headline\":\"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-23T16:48:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-28T14:18:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/\"},\"wordCount\":569,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Center for Visual Science\",\"Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences\",\"featured-post-side\",\"Michele Rucci\",\"research finding\",\"School of Arts and Sciences\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science & Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/\",\"name\":\"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-23T16:48:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-28T14:18:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/fcd7d29a5b8e855924bf73b764dcd827\"},\"description\":\"Small, involuntary, \\\"fixational\\\" eye movements play a big role in vision, according to University of Rochester researchers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667,\"caption\":\"Our eyes are always moving, even when we are fixated on an image. \u201cThe human brain has a very precise knowledge of how the eyes move, even if humans are not aware of moving them, and they use this knowledge to infer spatial relations and perceive the world not as blurry but as stable,\u201d says Rochester researcher Michele Rucci. (Getty Images photo \/ Carmelo Geraci)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"University of Rochester\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/fcd7d29a5b8e855924bf73b764dcd827\",\"name\":\"Lindsey Valich\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/lvalich\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world","description":"Small, involuntary, \"fixational\" eye movements play a big role in vision, according to University of Rochester researchers.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world","og_description":"Small, involuntary, \"fixational\" eye movements play a big role in vision, according to University of Rochester researchers.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2023-02-23T16:48:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-28T14:18:37+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg","width":945,"height":630,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lindsey Valich","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lindsey Valich","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/"},"author":{"name":"Lindsey Valich","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/fcd7d29a5b8e855924bf73b764dcd827"},"headline":"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world","datePublished":"2023-02-23T16:48:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-28T14:18:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/"},"wordCount":569,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg","keywords":["Center for Visual Science","Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences","featured-post-side","Michele Rucci","research finding","School of Arts and Sciences"],"articleSection":["Science & Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/","name":"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-23T16:48:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-28T14:18:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/fcd7d29a5b8e855924bf73b764dcd827"},"description":"Small, involuntary, \"fixational\" eye movements play a big role in vision, according to University of Rochester researchers.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/fea-fixational-eye-movements.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"caption":"Our eyes are always moving, even when we are fixated on an image. \u201cThe human brain has a very precise knowledge of how the eyes move, even if humans are not aware of moving them, and they use this knowledge to infer spatial relations and perceive the world not as blurry but as stable,\u201d says Rochester researcher Michele Rucci. (Getty Images photo \/ Carmelo Geraci)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/fixational-eye-movements-role-in-vision-550952\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Small, involuntary eye movements help us see a stable world"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"University of Rochester","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/fcd7d29a5b8e855924bf73b764dcd827","name":"Lindsey Valich","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/lvalich\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550952"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":552122,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550952\/revisions\/552122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}