Effect of visual attention on the properties of optokinetic nystagmus

PLoS One. 2017 Apr 7;12(4):e0175453. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175453. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) gain increases through attention to peripheral motion when the central visual field is occluded. However, how the properties of OKN change when two areas containing motion in different directions are presented in the peripheral visual field is still unclear. In this study, we investigated whether OKN corresponding to the attended motion in the periphery occurred while the observer was maintaining fixation at the center. We presented two areas with different directions of motion arranged on the left and right, top and bottom, or center and surrounding (concentric) areas in the display. Observers counted targets appearing on the attended area in the stimulus to maintain their attention on it. The results indicate that attention enhances the gain and frequency of OKN corresponding to the attended motion even in the case of stimuli having several areas with different directions of motion.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Motion Perception
  • Nystagmus, Optokinetic / physiology*
  • Visual Fields

Grants and funding

This work was supported by A-STEP FS (no. AS2621022H) from Japan Science and Technology Agency. URL: https://www.jst.go.jp/EN/index.html. Grant Recipient: HK. Panasonic Corporation provided support in the form of salaries for authors [KS], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.