Fixational eye movements and autokinesis in amblyopes.
Eye movements were recorded from amblyopic and non-amblyopic eyes during monocular viewing of a small target on either a patterned or a patternless background. A continuous measure of autokinesis was also obtained. The variance in eye position was greater in amblyopic eyes than in non-amblyopic eyes. The presence of a patterned background did not reduce the variance in eye position of amblyopic eyes. Autokinesis was greater in amblyopic eyes, but was not correlated with the eye movements. A patterned background significantly reduced the magnitude of autokinesis in amblyopic eyes. These results provide support for the hypothesis that a patterned background improves the accuracy of visual direction by reducing spurious extraretinal signals.
D000550:Amblyopia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005133:Eye Movements; D005403:Fixation, Ocular; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D012438:Saccades