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Gaze and posture coordinate differently with the complexity of visual stimulus motion

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Abstract

In this study, we explored whether gaze and posture would exhibit coordination with the motion of a presented visual stimulus, specifically with regard to the complexity of the motion structure. Fourteen healthy adults viewed a set of four visual stimulus motion conditions, in both self-selected and semi-tandem stance, during which the stimulus moved horizontally across a screen, with position updated to follow a sine, chaos, surrogate, or random noise trajectory. Posture was measured using a standard force platform in self-selected and semi-tandem stance conditions while gaze was recorded using image-based eye-tracking equipment. Cross-correlation confirmed the continuous coordination of gaze with each type of stimulus motion, with increasing lag as stimulus motion complexity increased. Correlation dimension and approximate entropy were used to assess the complexity of the measured gaze and posture behaviors, with these values compared against those of the actual stimulus via ANOVA and dependent t tests. We found that gaze behavior was particularly sensitive to the complexity of the stimulus motion, according to both metrics. Posture seemed to be unaffected by stimulus motion viewing; however, different stance conditions did exhibit differences in posture metrics. Our results support an evolving understanding of how vision is used for determining perception and action.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health (Grant Number K25HD047194), National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research (Grant Numbers H133G040118, H133G080023), the Nebraska Research Initiative, NASA Nebraska Space Grant Fellowship, and a Dennis Weatherstone Pre-doctoral Fellowship from Autism Speaks (Grant Number 7070).

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There is no conflict of interest associated with this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facility, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE, 68182-0216, USA

    Joshua L. Haworth & Nicholas Stergiou

  2. College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA

    Joshua L. Haworth & Nicholas Stergiou

  3. Department of Physical Therapy Education, Elon University, Elon, NC, USA

    Srikant Vallabhajosula

Authors
  1. Joshua L. Haworth
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  2. Srikant Vallabhajosula
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  3. Nicholas Stergiou
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Correspondence to Joshua L. Haworth.

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Haworth, J.L., Vallabhajosula, S. & Stergiou, N. Gaze and posture coordinate differently with the complexity of visual stimulus motion. Exp Brain Res 232, 2797–2806 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3962-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-014-3962-5

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