The following is a summary of “Flexible use of post-saccadic visual feedback in oculomotor learning,” published in the January 2022 issue of Ophthalmology by Heins, et al.

For a study, researchers investigated whether humans can flexibly use different sources of information within post-saccadic visual feedback in a task-dependent manner. Saccadic eye movements are essential for visual perception and interaction with the environment, and saccade adaptation is a process that recalibrates saccade accuracy in case of error. It was assumed that this process is mainly based on an implicit comparison of the target’s expected and actual post-saccadic position on the retina. However, recent research suggested that task demands can modulate saccade adaptation.

Using intra-saccadic manipulation of visual input, participants were presented with either congruent or incongruent post-saccadic information, creating conflict between two possible target objects. Different task instructions were given to investigate whether participants could modify their saccade behavior depending on the goal of the task. The results showed that participants could modify their saccade behavior depending on the task, irrespective of whether the post-saccadic feedback was congruent or incongruent. Depending on the task’s requirements, they could decrease saccade gain or maintain it.

The study suggested that action intentions prime task-relevant feature dimensions and facilitate selecting relevant information within the post-saccadic image. Participants used post-saccadic feedback flexibly, depending on their intentions and pending actions.

Reference: jov.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2778237