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Below is the abstract of a forthcoming target article by B. Fischer &
H. Weber on express saccadic eye movements and attention. It has been
accepted for publication in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), an
international, interdisciplinary journal that provides Open Peer
Commentary on important and controversial current research in the
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               EXPRESS SACCADES AND VISUAL ATTENTION

                    B. Fischer and H. Weber
                    Department Neurophysiology
                    Hansastr. 9
                    D - 78  Freiburg
                    Germany
           aiple@sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de (c/o Franz Aiple)

KEYWORDS: Eye movements, Saccade, Express Saccade, Vision, Fixation,
Attention, Cortex, Reaction Time, Dyslexia

ABSTRACT: One of the most intriguing and controversial observations in
oculomotor research in recent years is the phenomenon of express
saccades in man and monkey. These are saccades of so extremely short
reaction times (100 ms in man, 70 ms in monkey) that some experts on
eye movements still regard them as artifacts or anticipatory reactions
that do not need any further explanation. On the other hand, some
research groups consider them to be not only authentic but also a
valuable means of investigating the mechanisms of saccade generation,
the coordination of vision and eye movements, and the mechanisms of
visual attention.

This target article puts together pieces of experimental evidence in
oculomotor and related research - with special emphasis on the express
saccade - in order to enhance our present understanding of the
coordination of vision, visual attention, and eye movements necessary
for visual perception and cognition.

We hypothethize that an optomotor reflex is responsible for the
occurrence of express saccades, one that is controlled by higher brain
functions of disengaged visual attention and decision making. We
describe a neural network as a basis for more elaborate mathematical
models and computer simulations of the optomotor system in primates.

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