Network Imaging Group, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Spemannstraße 41, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Nature. 2013 Jun 6;498(7452):65-9. doi: 10.1038/nature12153. Epub 2013 May 26.
Fusing left and right eye images into a single view is dependent on precise ocular alignment, which relies on coordinated eye movements. During movements of the head this alignment is maintained by numerous reflexes. Although rodents share with other mammals the key components of eye movement control, the coordination of eye movements in freely moving rodents is unknown. Here we show that movements of the two eyes in freely moving rats differ fundamentally from the precisely controlled eye movements used by other mammals to maintain continuous binocular fusion. The observed eye movements serve to keep the visual fields of the two eyes continuously overlapping above the animal during free movement, but not continuously aligned. Overhead visual stimuli presented to rats freely exploring an open arena evoke an immediate shelter-seeking behaviour, but are ineffective when presented beside the arena. We suggest that continuously overlapping visual fields overhead would be of evolutionary benefit for predator detection by minimizing blind spots.
将左眼和右眼的图像融合成单一视图依赖于精确的眼球对准，这依赖于协调的眼球运动。在头部运动过程中，这种对准由许多反射来维持。尽管啮齿动物与其他哺乳动物共享眼球运动控制的关键组成部分，但在自由运动的啮齿动物中，眼球运动的协调尚不清楚。在这里，我们表明，自由移动的大鼠的两只眼睛的运动与其他哺乳动物用来维持连续双眼融合的精确控制的眼球运动有根本的不同。观察到的眼球运动有助于在动物自由运动期间保持两只眼睛的视野在动物上方连续重叠，但不连续对准。当向在开放竞技场中自由探索的大鼠呈现头顶视觉刺激时，会立即引发寻求庇护的行为，但当在竞技场旁边呈现时则无效。我们认为，头顶上连续重叠的视野对于最小化盲点的捕食者检测具有进化优势。
