Saccadic Reaction Time: Implications for Reading, Dyslexia, and Visual Cognition

Abstract

Visual perception in man and higher vertebrates with a specialized fovea requires scanning of the field of view. Within the central 20 degrees of the visual field this scanning is accomplished by saccadic eye movements. The neural structures of the central visual system involved in the analysis of "what" and "where" are required to take into account these eye movements. They also must contribute to the preparation of the saccades, as these are preprogrammed movements and the information "where" the eyes should move next must be delivered at the oculomotor centers before the movement starts.