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Zhang Y, Valsecchi M, Gegenfurtner KR, Chen J. The execution of saccadic eye movements suppresses visual processing of both color and luminance in the early visual cortex of humans. J Neurophysiol 2024; 131:1156-1167. [PMID: 38690998 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00419.2023] [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: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 04/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Our eyes execute rapid, directional movements known as saccades, occurring several times per second, to focus on objects of interest in our environment. During these movements, visual sensitivity is temporarily reduced. Despite numerous studies on this topic, the underlying mechanism remains elusive, including a lingering debate on whether saccadic suppression affects the parvocellular visual pathway. To address this issue, we conducted a study employing steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) elicited by chromatic and luminance stimuli while observers performed saccadic eye movements. We also employed an innovative analysis pipeline to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, yielding superior results compared to the previous method. Our findings revealed a clear suppression effect on SSVEP signals during saccades compared to fixation periods. Notably, this suppression effect was comparable for both chromatic and luminance stimuli. We went further to measure the suppression effect across various contrast levels, which enabled us to model SSVEP responses with contrast response functions. The results suggest that saccades primarily reduce response gain without significantly affecting contrast gain and that this reduction applies uniformly to both chromatic and luminance pathways. In summary, our study provides robust evidence that saccades similarly suppress visual processing in both the parvocellular and magnocellular pathways within the human early visual cortex, as indicated by SSVEP responses. The observation that saccadic eye movements impact response gain rather than contrast gain implies that they influence visual processing through a multiplicative mechanism.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The present study demonstrates that saccadic eye movements reduce the processing of both luminance and chromatic stimuli in the early visual cortex of humans. By modeling the contrast response function, the study further shows that saccades affect visual processing by reducing the response gain rather than altering the contrast gain, suggesting that a multiplicative mechanism of visual attenuation affects both parvocellular and magnocellular pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Zhang
- School of Psychology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
| | - Matteo Valsecchi
- Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universitá di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Karl R Gegenfurtner
- Abteilung Allgemeine Psychologie, Center for Mind, Brain & Behavior, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Gießen, Germany
| | - Jing Chen
- School of Psychology, Research Center for Exercise and Brain Science, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
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Braun DI, Schütz AC, Gegenfurtner KR. Age effects on saccadic suppression of luminance and color. J Vis 2021; 21:11. [PMID: 34144606 PMCID: PMC8237129 DOI: 10.1167/jov.21.6.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Saccadic eye movements modulate visual perception: they initiate and terminate high acuity vision at a certain location in space, but before and during their execution visual contrast sensitivity is strongly attenuated for 100 to 200 ms. Transient perisaccadic perceptual distortions are assumed to be an important mechanism to maintain visual stability. Little is known about age effects on saccadic suppression, even though for healthy adults other major age-related changes are well documented, like a decrease of visual contrast sensitivity for intermediate and high spatial frequencies or an increase of saccade latencies. Here, we tested saccadic suppression of luminance and isoluminant chromatic flashes in 100 participants from eight to 78 years. To estimate the effect of saccadic suppression on contrast sensitivity, we used a two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) design and an adaptive staircase procedure to modulate the luminance or chromatic contrast of a flashed detection target during fixation and 15 ms after saccade onset. The target was a single horizontal luminance or chromatic line flashed 2° above or below the fixation or saccade target. Compared to fixation, average perisaccadic contrast sensitivity decreased significantly by 66% for luminance and by 36% for color. A significant correlation was found for the strength of saccadic suppression of luminance and color. However, a small age effect was found only for the strength of saccadic suppression of luminance, which increased from 64% to 70% from young to old age. We conclude that saccadic suppression for luminance and color is present in most participants independent of their age and that mechanisms of suppression stay relatively stable during healthy aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doris I Braun
- Abteilung Allgemeine Psychologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain & Behavior, Marburg, Germany
- https://www.allpsych.uni-giessen.de/doris
| | - Alexander C Schütz
- Allgemeine und Biologische Psychologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain & Behavior, Marburg, Germany
- https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb04/team-schuetz/team/alexander-schutz
| | - Karl R Gegenfurtner
- Abteilung Allgemeine Psychologie, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain & Behavior, Marburg, Germany
- https://www.allpsych.uni-giessen.de/karl
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Meier K, Lundell DL, Seemiller ES, Giaschi D, Wilcox LM, Candy TR. The relationship between reflex eye realignment and the percept of single vision in young children. Sci Rep 2021; 11:375. [PMID: 33431972 PMCID: PMC7801643 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-78636-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Accepted: 11/27/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Effective binocular vision is dependent on both motor and perceptual function. Young children undergo development of both components while interacting with their dynamic three-dimensional environment. When this development fails, eye misalignment and double vision may result. We compared the range of image disparities over which young children display reflex motor realignment of their eyes with the range over which they report a single versus double percept. In response to step changes in the disparity of a 2.2° wide stimulus, 5-year-olds generated an adult-like reflex vergence velocity tuning function peaking at 2° of disparity, with a mean latency of 210 ms. On average, they reported double vision for stimulus disparities of 3° and larger, compared to 1° in adult reports. Three-year-olds also generated reflex vergence tuning functions peaking at approximately 2° of disparity, but their percepts could not be assessed. These data suggest that, by age 5, reflex eye realignment responses and percepts driven by these brief stimuli are tightly coordinated in space and time to permit robust binocular function around the point of fixation. Importantly, the plastic neural processes maintaining this tight coordination during growth control the stability of visual information driving learning during childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly Meier
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, 119A Guthrie Hall Box 351525, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA. .,Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3V4, Canada.
| | - Deanna L Lundell
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, Indiana University, 800 E Atwater Avenue, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
| | - Eric S Seemiller
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, Indiana University, 800 E Atwater Avenue, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
| | - Deborah Giaschi
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of British Columbia, 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3V4, Canada
| | - Laurie M Wilcox
- Department of Psychology, Centre for Vision Research, York University, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada
| | - T Rowan Candy
- School of Optometry and Vision Science, Indiana University, 800 E Atwater Avenue, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.,Programs in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
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Stewart EEM, Hübner C, Schütz AC. Stronger saccadic suppression of displacement and blanking effect in children. J Vis 2020; 20:13. [PMID: 33052408 PMCID: PMC7571331 DOI: 10.1167/jov.20.10.13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Accepted: 09/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans do not notice small displacements to objects that occur during saccades, termed saccadic suppression of displacement (SSD), and this effect is reduced when a blank is introduced between the pre- and postsaccadic stimulus (Bridgeman, Hendry, & Stark, 1975; Deubel, Schneider, & Bridgeman, 1996). While these effects have been studied extensively in adults, it is unclear how these phenomena are characterized in children. A potentially related mechanism, saccadic suppression of contrast sensitivity-a prerequisite to achieve a stable percept-is stronger for children (Bruno, Brambati, Perani, & Morrone, 2006). However, the evidence for how transsaccadic stimulus displacements may be suppressed or integrated is mixed. While they can integrate basic visual feature information from an early age, they cannot integrate multisensory information (Gori, Viva, Sandini, & Burr, 2008; Nardini, Jones, Bedford, & Braddick, 2008), suggesting a failure in the ability to integrate more complex sensory information. We tested children 7 to 12 years old and adults 19 to 23 years old on their ability to perceive intrasaccadic stimulus displacements, with and without a postsaccadic blank. Results showed that children had stronger SSD than adults and a larger blanking effect. Children also had larger undershoots and more variability in their initial saccade endpoints, indicating greater intrinsic uncertainty, and they were faster in executing corrective saccades to account for these errors. Together, these results suggest that children may have a greater internal expectation or prediction of saccade error than adults; thus, the stronger SSD in children may be due to higher intrinsic uncertainty in target localization or saccade execution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma E M Stewart
- Allgemeine und Biologische Psychologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Carolin Hübner
- Allgemeine und Biologische Psychologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Alexander C Schütz
- Allgemeine und Biologische Psychologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- Center for Mind, Brain and Behaviour, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany
- https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb04/team-schuetz/team/alexander-schutz
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Abstract
The perceptual consequences of eye movements are manifold: Each large saccade is accompanied by a drop of sensitivity to luminance-contrast, low-frequency stimuli, impacting both conscious vision and involuntary responses, including pupillary constrictions. They also produce transient distortions of space, time, and number, which cannot be attributed to the mere motion on the retinae. All these are signs that the visual system evokes active processes to predict and counteract the consequences of saccades. We propose that a key mechanism is the reorganization of spatiotemporal visual fields, which transiently increases the temporal and spatial uncertainty of visual representations just before and during saccades. On one hand, this accounts for the spatiotemporal distortions of visual perception; on the other hand, it implements a mechanism for fusing pre- and postsaccadic stimuli. This, together with the active suppression of motion signals, ensures the stability and continuity of our visual experience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Binda
- Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56123 Pisa, Italy;,
- CNR Institute of Neuroscience, 56123 Pisa, Italy
| | - Maria Concetta Morrone
- Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56123 Pisa, Italy;,
- IRCCS Fondazione Stella-Maris, Calambrone, 56128 Pisa, Italy
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Visual sensitivity for luminance and chromatic stimuli during the execution of smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements. Vision Res 2017; 136:57-69. [DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2017.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2017] [Revised: 05/04/2017] [Accepted: 05/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Gu XJ, Hu M, Li B, Hu XT. The role of contrast adaptation in saccadic suppression in humans. PLoS One 2014; 9:e86542. [PMID: 24466142 PMCID: PMC3899276 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2013] [Accepted: 12/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The idea of retinal and ex-retinal sources of saccadic suppression has long been established in previous studies. However, how they are implemented in local circuit remains unknown. Researchers have suggested that saccadic suppression was probably achieved by contrast gain control, but this possibility has never been directly tested. In this study, we manipulated contrast gain control by contrast-adapting observers with sinusoidal gratings of different contrasts. Presaccadic and fixational contrast thresholds were measured and compared to give estimates of saccadic suppression at different adaptation states. Our results reconfirmed the selective saccadic suppression in achromatic condition, and further showed that, achromatic saccadic suppression diminished as contrast adaptation was accentuated, whereas no significant chromatic saccadic suppression was induced by greater contrast adaptation. Our data provided evidence for the involvement of contrast gain control in saccadic suppression in achromatic channel. We also discussed how the negative correlation between contrast adaptation and saccadic suppression could be interpreted with contrast gain control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Jing Gu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Ming Hu
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas–Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Bing Li
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- * E-mail: (BL); (X-TH)
| | - Xin-Tian Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming, Yunnan, China
- * E-mail: (BL); (X-TH)
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Uematsu M, Matsuzaki N, Brown EC, Kojima K, Asano E. Human occipital cortices differentially exert saccadic suppression: Intracranial recording in children. Neuroimage 2013; 83:224-36. [PMID: 23792979 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.06.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2012] [Revised: 04/27/2013] [Accepted: 06/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
By repeating saccades unconsciously, humans explore the surrounding world every day. Saccades inevitably move external visual images across the retina at high velocity; nonetheless, healthy humans don't perceive transient blurring of the visual scene during saccades. This perceptual stability is referred to as saccadic suppression. Functional suppression is believed to take place transiently in the visual systems, but it remains unknown how commonly or differentially the human occipital lobe activities are suppressed at the large-scale cortical network level. We determined the spatial-temporal dynamics of intracranially-recorded gamma activity at 80-150 Hz around spontaneous saccades under no-task conditions during wakefulness and those in darkness during REM sleep. Regardless of wakefulness or REM sleep, a small degree of attenuation of gamma activity was noted in the occipital regions during saccades, most extensively in the polar and least in the medial portions. Longer saccades were associated with more intense gamma-attenuation. Gamma-attenuation was subsequently followed by gamma-augmentation most extensively involving the medial and least involving the polar occipital region. Such gamma-augmentation was more intense during wakefulness and temporally locked to the offset of saccades. The polarities of initial peaks of perisaccadic event-related potentials (ERPs) were frequently positive in the medial and negative in the polar occipital regions. The present study, for the first time, provided the electrophysiological evidence that human occipital cortices differentially exert perisaccadic modulation. Transiently suppressed sensitivity of the primary visual cortex in the polar region may be an important neural basis for saccadic suppression. Presence of occipital gamma-attenuation even during REM sleep suggests that saccadic suppression might be exerted even without external visual inputs. The primary visual cortex in the medial region, compared to the polar region, may be more sensitive to an upcoming visual scene provided at the offset of each saccade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitsugu Uematsu
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48201, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Tohoku University, Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai 980-8574, Japan
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Different modulation of medial superior temporal activity across saccades: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuroreport 2008; 19:133-7. [DOI: 10.1097/wnr.0b013e3282f3151c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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