title: Fixational eye movement correction of blink-induced gaze position errors.
abstract: Our eyes move continuously. Even when we attempt to fix our gaze, we produce "fixational" eye movements including microsaccades, drift and tremor. The potential role of microsaccades versus drifts in the control of eye position has been debated for decades and remains in question today. Here we set out to determine the corrective functions of microsaccades and drifts on gaze-position errors due to blinks in non-human primates (Macaca mulatta) and humans. Our results show that blinks contribute to the instability of gaze during fixation, and that microsaccades, but not drifts, correct fixation errors introduced by blinks. These findings provide new insights about eye position control during fixation, and indicate a more general role of microsaccades in fixation correction than thought previously.
authors.affiliation: Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America; Interdisciplinary Graduate program in Neuroscience, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Francisco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Costela
authors.affiliation: Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America; Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Otero-Millan
authors.affiliation: Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: McCamy
authors.affiliation: Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America; Department of Ophthalmology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Macknik
authors.affiliation: Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America; Unité de Neuroscience, Information et Complexité (CNRS-UNIC), UPR CNRS 3293, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Xoana G
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Troncoso
authors.affiliation: Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ali Najafian
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Jazi
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sharon M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Crook
authors.affiliation: Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America; Department of Ophthalmology, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martinez-Conde
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D009799:Ocular Physiological Phenomena; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology