Center Calendar

"From fixation to exploration: towards an integrative view of oculomotor function", Susana Martinez-Conde (SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Department of Ophthalmology)

Tuesday, April 20, 2021, 01:00pm

via Zoom EST: Email Jason Geller at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for this Zoom link.

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Susana Martinez-Conde's Website

Abstract: During visual exploration, saccadic eye movements scan the scene for objects of interest. During attempted fixation, the eyes are relatively still but often produce microsaccades. Though exploration and fixation have traditionally been regarded as two distinct oculomotor behaviors, an alternative model is that fixation and exploration are not dichotomous, but the two extremes of a functional continuum. Here I will present data, from healthy subjects as well as patients suffering from neurological disease, supporting the view that visual fixation is functionally equivalent to visual exploration on a spatially focused scale. I will also discuss my lab’s research using microsaccade production to better understand the role of area V1 in the perceptual distinction between self-motion and world-motion. Finally, I will present our latest findings on what oculomotor behavior might reveal about the perception of art.

Readings: