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Coudiere A, Danion FR. Eye-hand coordination all the way: from discrete to continuous hand movements. J Neurophysiol 2024; 131:652-667. [PMID: 38381528 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00314.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
The differentiation between continuous and discrete actions is key for behavioral neuroscience. Although many studies have characterized eye-hand coordination during discrete (e.g., reaching) and continuous (e.g., pursuit tracking) actions, all these studies were conducted separately, using different setups and participants. In addition, how eye-hand coordination might operate at the frontier between discrete and continuous movements remains unexplored. Here we filled these gaps by means of a task that could elicit different movement dynamics. Twenty-eight participants were asked to simultaneously track with their eyes and a joystick a visual target that followed an unpredictable trajectory and whose position was updated at different rates (from 1.5 to 240 Hz). This procedure allowed us to examine actions ranging from discrete point-to-point movements (low refresh rate) to continuous pursuit (high refresh rate). For comparison, we also tested a manual tracking condition with the eyes fixed and a pure eye tracking condition (hand fixed). The results showed an abrupt transition between discrete and continuous hand movements around 3 Hz contrasting with a smooth trade-off between fixations and smooth pursuit. Nevertheless, hand and eye tracking accuracy remained strongly correlated, with each of these depending on whether the other effector was recruited. Moreover, gaze-cursor distance and lag were smaller when eye and hand performed the task conjointly than separately. Altogether, despite some dissimilarities in eye and hand dynamics when transitioning between discrete and continuous movements, our results emphasize that eye-hand coordination continues to smoothly operate and support the notion of synergies across eye movement types.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The differentiation between continuous and discrete actions is key for behavioral neuroscience. By using a visuomotor task in which we manipulate the target refresh rate to trigger different movement dynamics, we explored eye-hand coordination all the way from discrete to continuous actions. Despite abrupt changes in hand dynamics, eye-hand coordination continues to operate via a gradual trade-off between fixations and smooth pursuit, an observation confirming the notion of synergies across eye movement types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrien Coudiere
- CNRS, Université de Poitiers, Université de Tours, CeRCA, Poitiers, France
| | - Frederic R Danion
- CNRS, Université de Poitiers, Université de Tours, CeRCA, Poitiers, France
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2
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Fooken J, Baltaretu BR, Barany DA, Diaz G, Semrau JA, Singh T, Crawford JD. Perceptual-Cognitive Integration for Goal-Directed Action in Naturalistic Environments. J Neurosci 2023; 43:7511-7522. [PMID: 37940592 PMCID: PMC10634571 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1373-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Real-world actions require one to simultaneously perceive, think, and act on the surrounding world, requiring the integration of (bottom-up) sensory information and (top-down) cognitive and motor signals. Studying these processes involves the intellectual challenge of cutting across traditional neuroscience silos, and the technical challenge of recording data in uncontrolled natural environments. However, recent advances in techniques, such as neuroimaging, virtual reality, and motion tracking, allow one to address these issues in naturalistic environments for both healthy participants and clinical populations. In this review, we survey six topics in which naturalistic approaches have advanced both our fundamental understanding of brain function and how neurologic deficits influence goal-directed, coordinated action in naturalistic environments. The first part conveys fundamental neuroscience mechanisms related to visuospatial coding for action, adaptive eye-hand coordination, and visuomotor integration for manual interception. The second part discusses applications of such knowledge to neurologic deficits, specifically, steering in the presence of cortical blindness, impact of stroke on visual-proprioceptive integration, and impact of visual search and working memory deficits. This translational approach-extending knowledge from lab to rehab-provides new insights into the complex interplay between perceptual, motor, and cognitive control in naturalistic tasks that are relevant for both basic and clinical research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jolande Fooken
- Centre for Neuroscience, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L3N6, Canada
| | - Bianca R Baltaretu
- Department of Psychology, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, 35394, Germany
| | - Deborah A Barany
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, and Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, Athens, Georgia 30602
| | - Gabriel Diaz
- Center for Imaging Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York 14623
| | - Jennifer A Semrau
- Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19713
| | - Tarkeshwar Singh
- Department of Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
| | - J Douglas Crawford
- Centre for Integrative and Applied Neuroscience, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
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Zhang W, Fei N, Wang Y, Yang B, Liu Z, Cheng L, Li J, Xian J, Fu T. Functional changes in fusional vergence-related brain areas and correlation with clinical features in intermittent exotropia using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:5002-5012. [PMID: 37539805 PMCID: PMC10502682 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 06/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023] Open
Abstract
To explore the functional changes of the frontal eye field (FEF) and relevant brain regions and its role in the pathogenesis of intermittent exotropia (IXT) children via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-four IXT children (mean age, 11.83 ± 1.93 years) and 28 normal control (NC) subjects (mean age, 11.11 ± 1.50 years) were recruited. During fMRI scans, the IXT children and NCs were provided with static visual stimuli (to evoke sensory fusion) and dynamic visual stimuli (to evoke motor fusion and vergence eye movements) with binocular disparity. Brain activation in the relevant brain regions and clinical characteristics were evaluated. Group differences of brain activation and brain-behavior correlations were investigated. For dynamic and static visual disparity relative to no visual disparity, reduced brain activation in the right FEF and right inferior occipital gyrus (IOG), and increased brain activation in the left middle temporal gyrus complex (MT+) were found in the IXT children compared with NCs. Significant positive correlations between the fusional vergence amplitude and the brain activation values were found in the right FEF, right IPL, and left cerebellum in the NC group. Positive correlations between brain activation values and Newcastle Control Scores (NCS) were found in the left MT+ in the IXT group. For dynamic visual disparity relative to static visual disparity, reduced brain activation in the right middle occipital gyrus, left cerebellum, and bilateral IPL was found in the IXT children compared with NCs. Significant positive correlations between brain activation values and the fusional vergence amplitude were found in the right FEF and right cerebellum in the NC group. Negative correlations between brain activation values and NCS were found in the right middle occipital gyrus, right cerebellum, left IPL, and right FEF in the IXT group. These results suggest that the reduced brain activation in the right FEF, left IPL, and cerebellum may play an important role in the pathogenesis of IXT by influencing fusional vergence function. While the increased brain activation in the left MT+ may compensate for this dysfunction in IXT children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weijia Zhang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Centre, Beijing Tongren HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Key LaboratoryCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Nanxi Fei
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Tongren HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Yachen Wang
- Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Centre, Beijing Tongren HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Key LaboratoryCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Bingbing Yang
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Tongren HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Zhihan Liu
- Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Centre, Beijing Tongren HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Key LaboratoryCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Luyao Cheng
- Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Centre, Beijing Tongren HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Key LaboratoryCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Junfa Li
- Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical SciencesCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Junfang Xian
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Tongren HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Tao Fu
- Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Centre, Beijing Tongren HospitalCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
- Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Key LaboratoryCapital Medical UniversityBeijingChina
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Nucci L, Miraglia F, Alù F, Pappalettera C, Judica E, Manenti R, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. Reaction time and cognitive strategies: The role of education in task performance. LEARNING AND MOTIVATION 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lmot.2023.101884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/13/2023]
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5
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Gómez-Granados A, Kurtzer I, Gordon S, Barany DA, Singh T. Object motion influences feedforward motor responses during mechanical stopping of virtual projectiles: a preliminary study. Exp Brain Res 2023; 241:1077-1087. [PMID: 36869269 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-023-06576-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023]
Abstract
An important window into sensorimotor function is how humans interact and stop moving projectiles, such as stopping a door from closing shut or catching a ball. Previous studies have suggested that humans time the initiation and modulate the amplitude of their muscle activity based on the momentum of the approaching object. However, real-world experiments are constrained by laws of mechanics, which cannot be manipulated experimentally to probe the mechanisms of sensorimotor control and learning. An augmented-reality variant of such tasks allows for experimental manipulation of the relationship between motion and force to obtain novel insights into how the nervous system prepares motor responses to interact with moving stimuli. Existing paradigms for studying interactions with moving projectiles use massless objects and are primarily focused on quantifying gaze and hand kinematics. Here, we developed a novel collision paradigm using a robotic manipulandum where participants mechanically stopped a virtual object moving in the horizontal plane. On each block of trials, we varied the virtual object's momentum by increasing either its velocity or mass. Participants stopped the object by applying a force impulse that matched the object momentum. We observed that hand force increased as a function of object momentum linked to changes in virtual mass or velocity, similar to results from studies involving catching free-falling objects. In addition, increasing object velocity resulted in later onset of hand force relative to the impending time-to-contact. These findings show that the present paradigm can be used to determine how humans process projectile motion for hand motor control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Gómez-Granados
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Isaac Kurtzer
- Department of Biomedical Science, College of Osteopathic Medicine, New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, New York, NY, 11568, USA
| | - Sean Gordon
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Deborah A Barany
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
- Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Tarkeshwar Singh
- Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University, 32 Recreation Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
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Moulton RH, Rudie K, Dukelow SP, Benson BW, Scott SH. Capacity Limits Lead to Information Bottlenecks in Ongoing Rapid Motor Behaviors. eNeuro 2023; 10:ENEURO.0289-22.2023. [PMID: 36858823 PMCID: PMC10012325 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0289-22.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies of ongoing, rapid motor behaviors have often focused on the decision-making implicit in the task. Here, we instead study how decision-making integrates with the perceptual and motor systems and propose a framework of limited-capacity, pipelined processing with flexible resources to understand rapid motor behaviors. Results from three experiments show that human performance is consistent with our framework: participants perform objectively worse as task difficulty increases, and, surprisingly, this drop in performance is largest for the most skilled performers. As well, our analysis shows that the worst-performing participants can perform equally well under increased task demands, which is consistent with flexible neural resources being allocated to reduce bottleneck effects and improve overall performance. We conclude that capacity limits lead to information bottlenecks and that processes like attention help reduce the effects that these bottlenecks have on maximal performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Hugh Moulton
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Karen Rudie
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
- School of Computing, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, ON K7L 2N8, Canada
- Ingenuity Labs Research Institute, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Sean P Dukelow
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Brian W Benson
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
- Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
- Benson Concussion Institute, Calgary, Alberta, AB T3B 6B7, Canada
- Canadian Sport Institute Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, AB T3B 5R5, Canada
| | - Stephen H Scott
- Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
- Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
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Gómez-Granados A, Barany DA, Schrayer M, Kurtzer IL, Bonnet CT, Singh T. Age-related deficits in rapid visuomotor decision-making. J Neurophysiol 2021; 126:1592-1603. [PMID: 34614375 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00073.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Many goal-directed actions that require rapid visuomotor planning and perceptual decision-making are affected in older adults, causing difficulties in execution of many functional activities of daily living. Visuomotor planning and perceptual identification are mediated by the dorsal and ventral visual streams, respectively, but it is unclear how age-induced changes in sensory processing in these streams contribute to declines in visuomotor decision-making performance. Previously, we showed that in young adults, task demands influenced movement strategies during visuomotor decision-making, reflecting differential integration of sensory information between the two streams. Here, we asked the question if older adults would exhibit deficits in interactions between the two streams during demanding motor tasks. Older adults (n = 15) and young controls (n = 26) performed reaching or interception movements toward virtual objects. In some blocks of trials, participants also had to select an appropriate movement goal based on the shape of the object. Our results showed that older adults corrected fewer initial decision errors during both reaching and interception movements. During the interception decision task, older adults made more decision- and execution-related errors than young adults, which were related to early initiation of their movements. Together, these results suggest that older adults have a reduced ability to integrate new perceptual information to guide online action, which may reflect impaired ventral-dorsal stream interactions.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Older adults show declines in vision, decision-making, and motor control, which can lead to functional limitations. We used a rapid visuomotor decision task to examine how these deficits may interact to affect task performance. Compared with healthy young adults, older adults made more errors in both decision-making and motor execution, especially when the task required intercepting moving targets. This suggests that age-related declines in integrating perceptual and motor information may contribute to functional deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Deborah A Barany
- Department of Kinesiology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.,Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, Athens, Georgia
| | | | - Isaac L Kurtzer
- Department of Biomedical Science, New York Institute of Technology-College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, New York
| | - Cédrick T Bonnet
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9193-SCALab-Sciences Cognitives et Sciences Affectives, Lille, France
| | - Tarkeshwar Singh
- Department of Kinesiology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
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Effects of visual blur and contrast on spatial and temporal precision in manual interception. Exp Brain Res 2021; 239:3343-3358. [PMID: 34480594 PMCID: PMC8542000 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-021-06184-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
The visual system is said to be especially sensitive towards spatial but lesser so towards temporal information. To test this, in two experiments, we systematically reduced the acuity and contrast of a visual stimulus and examined the impact on spatial and temporal precision (and accuracy) in a manual interception task. In Experiment 1, we blurred a virtual, to-be-intercepted moving circle (ball). Participants were asked to indicate (i.e., finger tap) on a touchscreen where and when the virtual ball crossed a ground line. As a measure of spatial and temporal accuracy and precision, we analyzed the constant and variable errors, respectively. With increasing blur, the spatial and temporal variable error, as well as the spatial constant error increased, while the temporal constant error decreased. Because in the first experiment, blur was potentially confounded with contrast, in Experiment 2, we re-ran the experiment with one difference: instead of blur, we included five levels of contrast matched to the blur levels. We found no systematic effects of contrast. Our findings confirm that blurring vision decreases spatial precision and accuracy and that the effects were not mediated by concomitant changes in contrast. However, blurring vision also affected temporal precision and accuracy, thereby questioning the generalizability of the theoretical predictions to the applied interception task.
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Fooken J, Kreyenmeier P, Spering M. The role of eye movements in manual interception: A mini-review. Vision Res 2021; 183:81-90. [PMID: 33743442 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2021.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2020] [Revised: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
When we catch a moving object in mid-flight, our eyes and hands are directed toward the object. Yet, the functional role of eye movements in guiding interceptive hand movements is not yet well understood. This review synthesizes emergent views on the importance of eye movements during manual interception with an emphasis on laboratory studies published since 2015. We discuss the role of eye movements in forming visual predictions about a moving object, and for enhancing the accuracy of interceptive hand movements through feedforward (extraretinal) and feedback (retinal) signals. We conclude by proposing a framework that defines the role of human eye movements for manual interception accuracy as a function of visual certainty and object motion predictability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jolande Fooken
- Department of Psychology and Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
| | - Philipp Kreyenmeier
- Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
| | - Miriam Spering
- Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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de Brouwer AJ, Flanagan JR, Spering M. Functional Use of Eye Movements for an Acting System. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:252-263. [PMID: 33436307 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2020] [Revised: 12/05/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Movements of the eyes assist vision and support hand and body movements in a cooperative way. Despite their strong functional coupling, different types of movements are usually studied independently. We integrate knowledge from behavioral, neurophysiological, and clinical studies on how eye movements are coordinated with goal-directed hand movements and how they facilitate motor learning. Understanding the coordinated control of eye and hand movements can provide important insights into brain functions that are essential for performing or learning daily tasks in health and disease. This knowledge can also inform applications such as robotic manipulation and clinical rehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anouk J de Brouwer
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
| | - J Randall Flanagan
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada; Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada
| | - Miriam Spering
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
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