The influence of feature salience over microsaccades in normal and blindsight humans and monkeys: an experimental and theoretical investigation

微扫视是眼球在注视时发生的微小扫视运动。尽管微眼跳产生的详细机制及其在视觉中的功能作用尚不完全清楚，但最近的研究表明，这些眼球运动可以作为理解感知和认知的几个方面的大眼跳的重要代理。其中一个方面涉及选择性视觉注意和眼球运动之间的关系，研究表明，与经典的随机和自发描述相反，微跳与注意力有关。这种关系的神经机制尚不完全清楚，其在视觉病理状态中的特征也完全未被探索。本研究的目的是了解通常包含在选择性视觉注意模型中的特征显著性如何影响微跳变。我们将结合行为学、神经生理学、损伤学和计算建模技术来解决这个问题。我们将进行模型驱动实验，以滴定特征显著性对微跳的影响，正如计算预测的那样。这些实验将最终形成一个综合的神经网络模型，该模型将考虑到视觉显著性和注意力在影响这些微小眼球运动中的重要作用。我们将特别比较初级视觉皮层（V1）和上丘（SC）在正常状态下以及V1病变期间在调节视觉方面可能发挥的不同作用。通过选择性地探测两种不同的视觉通路（一种通过V1，另一种绕过V1），我们不仅可以了解特征显著性对最小可能的扫视的影响，而且还可以确定失明患者（失去V1功能）面临的机遇和挑战，并最终为这些患者如何优化他们的生活质量提供指导，尽管他们失去了有意识的视力

Microsaccades are tiny saccadic eye movements that take place during periods of gaze fixation. Even though the detailed mechanisms for microsaccade generation, as well as their functional role in vision, are not fully understood, recent research has revealed that these eye movements can act as an important proxy for larger saccades in understanding several aspects of perception and cognition. One such aspect concerns the relationship between selective visual attention and eye movements, in which it was shown that microsaccades, in contrast to their classic description as random and spontaneous, are related to attention. The neural mechanisms for such a relationship are not fully understood, and its characteristics in pathological states of vision are completely unexplored. The purpose of the proposed research is to understand how feature salience that is commonly included in models of selective visual attention can influence microsaccades. We will approach this problem by using a combination of behavioral, neurophysiological, lesion, and computational modeling techniques. We will conduct model-driven experiments designed to titrate the effects of feature salience, as predicted computationally, on microsaccades. These experiments will then ultimately culminate in a comprehensive neural network model of microsaccade generation that takes into account the important roles of visual salience and attention in influencing these tiny eye movements. We will specifically compare the possible distinct roles of primary visual cortex (V1) and superior colliculus (SC) in mediating vision in the normal state, as well as during V1 lesions. By selectively probing two distinct pathways for vision (one through V1 and one bypassing it), not only will we understand the influence of feature salience on the smallest possible saccades, but we will also identify the opportunities and challenges faced by blindsight patients (who lose V1 function), and ultimately provide guidelines on how these patients may optimize their quality of life despite their loss of conscious vision