Spatial transfer of adaptation of scanning voluntary saccades in humans

Nadia Alahyane (1, 2) , Anne-Dominique Devauchelle (1, 2) , Roméo Salemme (1, 2) , Denis Pelisson (1, 2)

1 Espace et action
2 IFNL - IFR des neurosciences de Lyon

The properties and neural substrates of the adaptive mechanisms that maintain over time the accuracy of voluntary, internally triggered saccades are still poorly understood. Here, we used transfer tests to evaluate the spatial properties of adaptation of scanning voluntary saccades. We found that an adaptive reduction of the size of a horizontal rightward 71 saccade transferred to other saccades of a wide range of amplitudes and directions.This transfer decreased as tested saccades increasingly di¡ered in amplitude or direction from the trained saccade, being null for vertical and left-ward saccades. Voluntary saccade adaptation thus presents bounded, but large adaptation ¢elds, suggesting that at least part of the underlying neural substrate encodes saccades as vectors.

Mots clés: man; oculomotor; plasticity; transfer; voluntary saccade; eye displacement vector; eye movement

Domaines: Neurosciences

Nadia Alahyane, Anne-Dominique Devauchelle, Roméo Salemme, Denis Pelisson. Spatial transfer of adaptation of scanning voluntary saccades in humans. NeuroReport, 2007, 19 (1), pp.37-41. ⟨10.1097/WNR.0b013e3282f2a5f2⟩. ⟨hal-02196776⟩