Experimental Brain Research

, Volume 179, Issue 2, pp 313–323 | Cite as

Optimal inference explains dimension-specific contractions of spatial perception

  • Matthias Niemeier
  • J. Douglas Crawford
  • Douglas B. Tweed
Research Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

It is known that people misperceive scenes they see during rapid eye movements called saccades. It has been suggested that some of these misperceptions could be an artifact of neurophysiological processes related to the internal remapping of spatial coordinates during saccades. Alternatively, we have recently suggested, based on a computational model, that transsaccadic misperceptions result from optimal inference. As one of the properties of the model, sudden object displacements that occur in sync with a saccade should be perceived as contracted in a non-linear fashion. To explore this model property, here we use computer simulations and psychophysical methods first to test how robust the model is to close-to-optimal approximations and second to test two model predictions: (a) contracted transsaccadic perception should be dimension-specific with more contraction for jumps parallel to the saccade than orthogonal to it, and (b) contraction should rise as a function of visuomotor noise. Our results are consistent with these predictions. They support the idea that human transsaccadic integration is governed by close-to-optimal inference.

Keywords

Saccadic eye movements Bayesian method Space perception 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank Saihong Sun, Dr. Hongying Wang and Steve Prime for technical assistance. This work was supported by CIHR.

References

  1. Awater H, Burr D, Lappe M, Morrone MC, Goldberg ME (2005) Effect of saccadic adaptation on localization of visual targets. J Neurophysiol 26:12–20Google Scholar
  2. Bridgeman B, Hendry D, Stark L (1975) Failure to detect displacement of the visual world during saccadic eye movements. Vision Res 15:719–722PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Burr DC, Holt J, Johnstone JR, Ross J (1982) Selective depression of motion sensitivity during saccades. J Physiol 333:1–15PubMedGoogle Scholar
  4. Burr DC, Morrone MC, Ross J (1994) Selective suppression of the magnocellular visual pathway during saccadic eye movements. Nature 371:511–513PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Cai RH, Pouget A, Schlag-Rey M, Schlag J (1997) Perceived geometrical relationships affected by eye movement signals. Nature 386:601–604PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Curcio CA, Allen KA (1990) Topography of ganglion cells in human retina. J Comp Neurol 300:5–25PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Dassonville P, Schlag J, Schlag-Rey M (1992) Oculomotor localization relies on a damped representation of saccadic eye displacement in human and non-human primates. Vis Neurosci 9:261–269PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Deubel H (2004) Localization of targets across saccades: role of landmark objects. Vis Cogn 11:173–202CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Duhamel JR, Colby CL, Goldberg ME (1992) The updating of the representation of visual space in parietal cortex by intended eye movements. Science 255:90–92PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Harris CM (1995) Does saccadic undershoot minimize saccadic flight-time? A Monte-Carlo study. Vision Res 35:691–701PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Hayhoe M, Lachter J, Feldman J (1991) Integration of form across saccadic eye movements. Perception 20:393–402PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Honda H (1993) Saccade-contingent displacement of the apparent position of visual stimuli flashed on a dimly illuminated structured background. Vision Res 33:709–716PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Honda H (1997) Interaction of extraretinal eye position signals in a double-step saccade task: psychophysical estimation. Exp Brain Res 113:327–336PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Ilg U, Hoffmann KP (1993) Motion perception during saccades. Vision Res 33:211–220PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Kaiser M, Lappe M (2004) Perisaccadic mislocalization orthogonal to saccade direction. Neuron 41:293–300PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Krekelberg B, Kubischik M, Hoffmann KP, Bremmer F (2003) Neural correlates of visual localization and perisaccadic mislocalization. Neuron 37:537–545PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Lappe M, Awater H, Krekelberg B (2000) Postsaccadic visual references generate presaccadic compression of space. Nature 403:892–895PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Mack A (1970) An investigation of the relationship between eye and retinal image movement in the perception of movement. Percept Psychophys 8:291–298Google Scholar
  19. Marr D (1982) Vision. Freeman, San FranciscoGoogle Scholar
  20. Matin L, Pearce DG (1965) Visual perception of direction for stimuli flashed during voluntary saccadic eye movements. Science 148:1485–1488CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  21. Maunsell JHR, Newsome WT (1987) Visual processing in monkey extrastriate cortex. Annu Rev Neurosci 10:363–401PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Maunsell JHR, Van Essen DC (1987) Topographical organization of the middle temporal visual area in the macaque monkey: representational biases and the relationship to callosal connections and myeloarchitectonic boundaries. J Comp Neurol 266:535–555PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Medendorp WP, Tweed DB, Crawford JD (2003) Motion parallax is computed in the updating of human spatial memory. J Neurosci 23:8135–8142PubMedGoogle Scholar
  24. Melcher D, Morrone MC (2003) Spatiotopic temporal integration of visual motion across saccadic eye movements. Nat Neurosci 6:877–881PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Morrone MC, Ross R, Burr DC (1997) Apparent position of visual targets during real and simulated saccadic eye movements. J Neurosci 17:7941–7953PubMedGoogle Scholar
  26. Nakamura K, Colby CL (2002) Updating of the visual representation in monkey striate and extrastriate cortex during saccades. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:4026–4031PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Niemeier M, Crawford JD, Tweed DB (2002) A bayesian approach to change blindness. Ann N Y Acad Sci 956:474–475PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Niemeier M, Crawford JD, Tweed DB (2003) Optimal transsaccadic integration explains distorted spatial perception. Nature 422:76–79PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. van Opstal AJ, van Gisbergen JA (1989) Scatter in the metrics of saccades and properties of the collicular motor map. Vision Res 29:1183–1196PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Prime S, Niemeier M, Crawford JD (2006) Transsaccadic integration of visual features in a line intersection task. Exp Brain Res 169:532–548PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Robinson DA (1963) A method of measuring eye movement using a scleral search coil in a magnetic field. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 10:137–145PubMedGoogle Scholar
  32. Ross J, Morrone MC, Burr DC (1997) Compression of space before saccades. Nature 386:598–601PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Ross J, Morrone MC, Goldberg ME, Burr DC (2001) Changes in visual perception at the time of saccades. Trends Neurosci 24:113–121PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Schein SJ, de Monasterio FM (1987) Mapping of retinal and geniculate neurons onto striate cortex of macaque. J Neurosci 7:996–1009PubMedGoogle Scholar
  35. Shiori S, Cavanagh P (1989) Saccadic suppression of low-level motion. Vision Res 29:915–928CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Smith MA, Crawford JD (2001) Implications of ocular kinematics for the internal updating of visual space. J Neurophysiol 86:2112–2117PubMedGoogle Scholar
  37. Sommer MA, Wurtz RH (2002) A pathway in primate brain for internal monitoring of movements. Science 296:1480–1482PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Tolias AS, Moore T, Smirnakis SM, Tehovnik EJ, Siapas AG, Schiller PH (2001) Eye movements modulate visual receptive fields of V4 neurons. Neuron 29:757–767PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. VanRullen R (2004) A simple translation in cortical log-coordinates may account for the pattern of saccadic localization errors. Biol Cybern 91:131–137PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Walker MF, Fitzgibbon EJ, Goldberg ME (1995) Neurons in the monkey superior colliculus predict the visual result of impending saccadic eye movements. J Neurophysiol 73:1988–2003PubMedGoogle Scholar
  41. Weiss Y, Simoncelli EP, Adelson EH (2002) Motion illusions as optimal percepts. Nat Neurosci 5:598–604PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2006

Authors and Affiliations

  • Matthias Niemeier
    • 1
    • 2
    • 5
  • J. Douglas Crawford
    • 2
    • 3
    • 5
  • Douglas B. Tweed
    • 2
    • 4
    • 5
  1. 1.Centre for Computational Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Life SciencesUniversity of Toronto at ScarboroughTorontoCanada
  2. 2.Centre for Vision ResearchYork UniversityTorontoCanada
  3. 3.Departments of Psychology, Biology, and Kinesiology, Health SciencesYork UniversityTorontoCanada
  4. 4.Department of PhysiologyUniversity of TorontoTorontoCanada
  5. 5.CIHR Group for Action and PerceptionLondonCanada

Personalised recommendations