Essig P, Leube A, Rifai K, Wahl S. Microsaccadic rate signatures correlate under monocular and binocular stimulation conditions.
J Eye Mov Res 2020;
11. [PMID:
33828709 PMCID:
PMC8008506 DOI:
10.16910/jemr.13.5.3]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Microsaccades are involuntary eye movements occurring naturally during fixation. In this
study, microsaccades were investigated under monocularly and binocularly stimulated
conditions with respect to their directional distribution and rate signature, that refers to a
curve reporting the frequency modulation of microsaccades over time. For monocular
stimulation the left eye was covered by an infrared filter. In both stimulation conditions,
participants fixated a Gabor patch presented randomly in orientation of 45° or 135° over a
wide range of spatial frequencies appearing in the center of a monitor. Considering the
microsaccadic directions, this study showed microsaccades to be preferably horizontally
oriented in their mean direction, regardless of the spatial characteristics of the grating.
Furthermore, this outcome was found to be consistent between both stimulation conditions.
Moreover, this study found that the microsaccadic rate signature curve correlates between
both stimulation conditions, while the curve given for binocular stimulation was already
proposed as a tool for estimation of visual performance in the past.
Therefore, this study extends the applicability of microsaccades to clinical use, since
parameters as contrast sensitivity, has been measured monocularly in the clinical attitude.
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