title: A new motor synergy that serves the needs of oculomotor and eye lid systems while keeping the downtime of vision minimal.
abstract: The purpose of blinks is to keep the eyes hydrated and to protect them. Blinks are rarely noticed by the subject as blink-induced alterations of visual input are blanked out without jeopardizing the perception of visual continuity, features blinks share with saccades. Although not perceived, the blink-induced disconnection from the visual environment leads to a loss of information. Therefore there is critical need to minimize it. Here we demonstrate evidence for a new type of eye movement serving a distinct oculomotor demand, namely the resetting of eye torsion, likewise inevitably causing a loss of visual information. By integrating this eye movement into blinks, the inevitable down times of vision associated with each of the two behaviors are synchronized and the overall downtime minimized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.|Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Mohammad Farhan
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Khazali
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.|Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Joern K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Pomper
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.|Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smilgin
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.|Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Friedemann
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bunjes
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.|Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001767:Blinking; D005133:Eye Movements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009799:Ocular Physiological Phenomena; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D014785:Vision, Ocular
keywords: blinking; eye movements; human; human biology; medicine; neuroscience; vision stability; vision suppression