Abstract
IF a stationary source of light is flashed briefly during or just before a saccadic eye movement, it is less easily detected than when the eye is stationary1–3, and its location relative to a fixed background is misperceived4,5. These phenomena have sometimes been taken to support the theory that an efferent signal from the oculomotor system actively modifies the visual input signal during a voluntary eye movement so as to “cancel” the visual effects of the movement6, with a view to maintaining the stability of the perceived world. On this theory one would not expect to observe such perceptual anomalies if the eye were held stationary and the retinal image moved in saccadic fashion by external means.
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MACKAY, D. Mislocation of Test Flashes during Saccadic Image Displacements. Nature 227, 731–733 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/227731a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/227731a0
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