Reduced latency in manual interception with anticipatory smooth eye movements

Takeshi Miyamoto; Kosuke Numasawa; Riku Hirano; Yusei Yoshimura; Seiji Ono

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2025.111849

Reduced latency in manual interception with anticipatory smooth eye movements

iScience. 2025 Jan 20;28(2):111849. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.111849. eCollection 2025 Feb 21.

Authors

Takeshi Miyamoto¹, Kosuke Numasawa², Riku Hirano³, Yusei Yoshimura², Seiji Ono²

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan.
² Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
³ Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.

Abstract

Delays in visuomotor processing can cause the image of a moving object to fall outside the limited range of central vision, resulting in a blurred perception. To overcome these delays, anticipatory smooth eye movements (ASEMs) occur in the expected direction of future object motion before the object begins to move. This study demonstrated the functional benefits of ASEMs in rapid visually guided behaviors, highlighting their role beyond merely compensating for visuomotor delays. By experimentally facilitating ASEMs independent of participants' predictions regarding future object motion, we showed that ASEMs themselves expedite the initiation of interception movements. Our results revealed a quantitative relationship between ASEM velocity and interception latency on a single-trial level, which was more pronounced in participants employing predictive control compared to those relying on reactive control. These findings suggest that ASEMs enhance the feedforward control of interception movements by providing extraretinal signals rather than retinal signals.

Keywords: Neuroscience; Sensory neuroscience.