Eye-movement-dependent loss in vision and its time course during vergence

Abstract

The attenuation of vision that has long been known to accompany saccadic eye movement has a significant component that is not attributable to visual masking or image smear, and this suppression of vision is now associated with nonsaccadic movement. The purpose of the present experiment was to determine the time course of visual suppression during a vergence eye movement. Suppression was evaluated psychophysically in human observers by measuring their loss of sensitivity to a brief, full-field decrement of light during 6°-9° convergence. Vergence-related suppression was similar in total duration and amplitude to saccadic and blink-related suppression. Since these other forms of oculomotor activity are vastly different in speed and total duration, it is unlikely that suppression results directly from the activity itself. Instead, these results support the hypothesis that a common, more centrally originating, suppression of the vision occurs during eye movements, including saccades, eyeblinks, and vergence. Thus, while vision during eye movements can often be reduced through masking and smearing effects, the movement-dependent visual suppression measured in these experiments is a more generally occurring event.