Department of Psychology, NYU, New York, USA.
Center for Neural Science, NYU, New York, USA.
Sci Rep. 2023 Feb 20;13(1):2981. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29990-2.
Visual perception is limited by spatial resolution, the ability to discriminate fine details. Spatial resolution not only declines with eccentricity but also differs for polar angle locations around the visual field, also known as 'performance fields'. To compensate for poor peripheral resolution, we make rapid eye movements-saccades-to bring peripheral objects into high-acuity foveal vision. Already before saccade onset, visual attention shifts to the saccade target location and prioritizes visual processing. This presaccadic shift of attention improves performance in many visual tasks, but whether it changes resolution is unknown. Here, we investigated whether presaccadic attention sharpens peripheral spatial resolution; and if so, whether such effect interacts with performance fields asymmetries. We measured acuity thresholds in an orientation discrimination task during fixation and saccade preparation around the visual field. The results revealed that presaccadic attention sharpens acuity, which can facilitate a smooth transition from peripheral to foveal representation. This acuity enhancement is similar across the four cardinal locations; thus, the typically robust effect of presaccadic attention does not change polar angle differences in resolution.
视觉感知受到空间分辨率的限制，即辨别细微细节的能力。空间分辨率不仅随离轴度降低，而且还因视野周围的极角位置（也称为“表现场”）而不同。为了弥补外围分辨率低的问题，我们进行快速眼球运动——眼跳——将外围物体带入高敏度中央凹视觉。在眼跳开始之前，视觉注意力就已经转移到眼跳目标位置，并优先进行视觉处理。这种眼跳前的注意力转移可以提高许多视觉任务的表现，但它是否会改变分辨率还不清楚。在这里，我们研究了眼跳前的注意力是否能锐化外围空间分辨率；如果是，这种效果是否与表现场不对称有关。我们在注视和眼跳准备期间，在视野周围的方位辨别任务中测量了视力阈值。结果表明，眼跳前的注意力能锐化视力，从而促进从外围到中央凹的平滑转变。这种视力增强在四个主要位置都相似；因此，眼跳前注意力的典型强效应不会改变分辨率的极角差异。
