Institute of Technology and Science, The University of Tokushima, 2-1 Minamijyousanjima, Tokushima, 770-8506, Japan,
Psychol Res. 2014 Mar;78(2):166-79. doi: 10.1007/s00426-013-0490-z. Epub 2013 Mar 28.
Involuntary microsaccades and voluntary saccades reflect human brain activities during attention and cognitive tasks. Our eye movements can also betray our emotional state. However, the effects of attention to emotion on microsaccadic activity remain unknown. The present study was conducted in healthy volunteers to investigate the effects of devoting attention to exogenous emotional stimuli on microsaccadic response, with change in pupil size as an index of sympathetic nervous system activity. Event-related responses to unpleasant images significantly inhibited the rate of microsaccade appearance and altered pupil size (Experiment 1). Additionally, microsaccadic responses to covert orienting of attention to emotional stimuli appeared significantly in the anti-direction to a target, with a fast reaction time (Experiment 2). Therefore, we concluded that attentional shifts induced by exogenous emotional stimuli can modulate microsaccadic activities. Future studies of the interaction between miniature eye movements and emotion may be beneficial in the assessment of pathophysiological responses in mental disorders.
不随意微扫视和随意扫视反映了人类在注意和认知任务中的大脑活动。我们的眼球运动也可以揭示我们的情绪状态。然而，注意力对情绪的影响对微扫视活动的影响尚不清楚。本研究在健康志愿者中进行，旨在研究将注意力集中在外源情绪刺激上对微扫视反应的影响，以瞳孔大小的变化作为交感神经系统活动的指标。与不愉快的图像相关的事件反应显著抑制了微扫视出现的速度，并改变了瞳孔大小（实验 1）。此外，对情绪刺激的注意力隐蔽定向的微扫视反应出现在与目标相反的方向，反应时间较快（实验 2）。因此，我们得出结论，外源性情绪刺激引起的注意力转移可以调节微扫视活动。未来对微小眼动和情绪之间相互作用的研究可能有助于评估精神障碍中的病理生理反应。
