The Role of Blinks, Microsaccades and their Retinal Consequences in Bistable Motion Perception.

ABSTRACT: Eye-related movements such as blinks and microsaccades are modulated during bistable perceptual tasks. However, if they play an active role during internal perceptual switches is not known. We conducted two experiments involving an ambiguous plaid stimulus, wherein participants were asked to continuously report their percept, which could consist of either unidirectional coherent or bidirectional component movement. Our main results show that blinks and microsaccades did not facilitate perceptual switches. On the contrary, a reduction in eye movements preceded the perceptual switch. Blanks, on the other hand, thought to mimic the retinal consequences of a blink, consistently led to a switch. Through the timing of the blank-introduced perceptual change, we were able to estimate the delay bet

SUBMITTER: Brych M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8061730 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature