A simple translation in cortical log-coordinates may account for the pattern of saccadic localization errors

During saccadic eye movements, the visual world shifts rapidly across the retina. Perceptual continuity is thought to be maintained by active neural mechanisms that compensate for this displacement, bringing the presaccadic scene into a postsaccadic reference frame. Because of this active mechanism, objects appearing briefly around the time of the saccade are perceived at erroneous locations, a phenomenon called perisaccadic mislocalization. The position and direction of localization errors can inform us about the different reference frames involved.Ithasbeenfound,forexample,thaterrorsarenot simply made in the direction of the saccade but directed toward the saccade target, indicating that the compensatory mechanism involves spatial compression rather than translation. A recent study confirmed that localization errors also occur in the direction orthogonal to saccade direction, but only for eccentricities far from the fovea, beyondthesaccadetarget.Thisspatiallyspecificpatternof distort...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2004
• Where: BC
• Authors: Rufin van Rullen
• Keywords: BC 2004, Localization Errors, Reference Frames, Saccadic Eye Movements