Fast, anticipatory smooth-pursuit eye movements appear to depend on a short-term store

Anticipatory smooth pursuit before the expected appearance of a moving target can reduce the initial retinal blur caused by the 100-ms delay of visual feedback. Humans, though, can only voluntarily generate smooth velocities up to about 5 degrees/s without a moving target. However, previous experime...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental brain research 1998-05, Vol.120 (1), p.129-133
Main Authors: WELLS, S. G, BARNES, G. R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Arousal
Biological and medical sciences
Cues
Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision
Feedback
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Male
Memory
Memory, Short-Term - physiology
Middle Aged
Pursuit, Smooth - physiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Volition - physiology
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Summary:Anticipatory smooth pursuit before the expected appearance of a moving target can reduce the initial retinal blur caused by the 100-ms delay of visual feedback. Humans, though, can only voluntarily generate smooth velocities up to about 5 degrees/s without a moving target. However, previous experiments have shown that repetitive brief presentations of a moving target every few seconds appear to charge an internal store, the contents of which can later be released to generate higher velocity anticipatory movements. This store's longevity was assessed here by repetitively presenting a moving target for 500 ms at different known intervals up to 7.2 s. Target motion at 25 degrees/s or 50 degrees/s was tested, with presentations in alternate directions or the same direction. Anticipatory velocity, measured 100 ms after target onset, decreased with increasing interval for all target motion conditions. A decrease was still seen when accurate timing cues were given before each presentation, suggesting that the drive for anticipatory pursuit is held in a short-term store lasting a few seconds which can enhance the low velocities produced by volition alone. The results also demonstrate that high-velocity anticipatory pursuit helps to overcome the temporal delays in the system and allows target velocity to be matched at an earlier time.
ISSN:0014-4819
1432-1106
DOI:10.1007/s002210050385