title: Saccadic eye movements cause compression of time as well as space.
abstract: There is now considerable evidence that space is compressed when stimuli are flashed shortly before or after the onset of a saccadic eye movement. Here we report that short intervals of time between two successive perisaccadic visual (but not auditory) stimuli are also underestimated, indicating a compression of perceived time. We were even more surprised that in a critical interval before saccades, perceived temporal order is consistently reversed. The very similar time courses of spatial and temporal compression suggest that both are mediated by a common neural mechanism, probably related to the predictive shifts that occur in receptive fields of many visual areas at the time of saccades.
authors.affiliation: Facoltà di Psicologia, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Via Olgettina 58, Milano 20132, Italy.
authors.forename: M Concetta
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Morrone
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burr
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010469:Perceptual Distortion / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*