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The visual representations of motion and of gravity are functionally independent: Evidence of a differential effect of smooth pursuit eye movements

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Abstract

The memory for the final position of a moving object which suddenly disappears has been found to be displaced forward, in the direction of motion, and downwards, in the direction of gravity. These phenomena were coined, respectively, Representational Momentum and Representational Gravity. Although both these and similar effects have been systematically linked with the functioning of internal representations of physical variables (e.g. momentum and gravity), serious doubts have been raised for a cognitively based interpretation, favouring instead a major role of oculomotor and perceptual factors which, more often than not, were left uncontrolled and even ignored. The present work aims to determine the degree to which Representational Momentum and Representational Gravity are epiphenomenal to smooth pursuit eye movements. Observers were required to indicate the offset locations of targets moving along systematically varied directions after a variable imposed retention interval. Each participant completed the task twice, varying the eye movements’ instructions: gaze was either constrained or left free to track the targets. A Fourier decomposition analysis of the localization responses was used to disentangle both phenomena. The results show unambiguously that constraining eye movements significantly eliminates the harmonic components which index Representational Momentum, but have no effect on Representational Gravity or its time course. The found outcomes offer promising prospects for the study of the visual representation of gravity and its neurological substrates.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grant SFRH/BPD/84118/2012 by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

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  1. Institute of Cognitive Psychology, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, Apartado 6153, 3001-802, Coimbra, Portugal

    Nuno Alexandre De Sá Teixeira

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  1. Nuno Alexandre De Sá Teixeira
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Correspondence to Nuno Alexandre De Sá Teixeira.

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De Sá Teixeira, N.A. The visual representations of motion and of gravity are functionally independent: Evidence of a differential effect of smooth pursuit eye movements. Exp Brain Res 234, 2491–2504 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-016-4654-0

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