Effects Of Internally Directed Cognition on Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements: A Systematic Examination of Perceptual Decoupling

Abstract

Eye behavior differs between internally and externally directed cognition and thus is indicative of an internal versus external attention focus. Recent work implicated perceptual decoupling (i.e., eye behavior becoming less determined by the sensory environment) as one of the key mechanisms involved in these attention-related eye movement differences. However, it is not yet understood how perceptual decoupling depends on the characteristics of the internal task. Therefore, we systematically examined effects of varying internal task demands on smooth pursuit eye movements. Specifically, we evaluated effects of the internal workload (control vs. low vs. high) and of internal task (arithmetic vs. visuospatial). The results of multilevel modelling showed that effects of perceptual decoupling were stronger for higher workload, and more pronounced for the visuospatial modality. Effects also followed a characteristic time course relative to internal operations. The findings provide further support of the perceptual decoupling mechanism by showing that it is sensitive to the degree of interference between external and internal information.

Perceptual Decoupling in Reflexive Eye Behavior? Exploring Effects of Internal Attention on the Pupillary Light Response

“…Specifically, we examined whether an internal attention focus results in reduced or delayed PLR, and if so, whether this effect is moderated by task modality, workload or temporal dynamics of the internal task. We have recently shown that internal task performance induces perceptual decoupling for voluntary eye movements (i.e., smooth pursuit; Korda et al, 2022). It is well documented that low-level pupil responses can be modulated by high-level executive circuits (Mathôt, 2018;Strauch et al, 2022).…”

“…To test effects of task modality, we compared arithmetic and visuospatial task modalities, as the latter relies more heavily on shared resources between visual perception and visuospatial working memory (Damiano & Walther, 2019;Pearson & Sahraie, 2003;Postle et al, 2006). Recent research already showed that a visuospatial task results in a higher degree of perceptual decoupling than an arithmetic task in voluntary eye behavior (Korda et al, 2022). Thus, if PLR depends on the shared resources between visual perception and visuospatial working memory, one would expect higher degree of perceptual decoupling in the visuospatial compared to the arithmetic task.…”

“…Thus, if PLR depends on the shared resources between visual perception and visuospatial working memory, one would expect higher degree of perceptual decoupling in the visuospatial compared to the arithmetic task. Furthermore, we will vary workload within both task modalities, as workload is a known modulator of PD (Mathôt, 2018;van der Wel & van Steenbergen, 2018) and it might affect the PLR (Steinhauer et al, 2000), and higher workload resulted in a higher degree of perceptual decoupling of voluntary eye behavior (Korda et al, 2022). Thus, if PLR is influenced by the workload, then higher workload should result in a higher degree of decoupling.…”

“…The study protocol was approved by the local ethics committee and all participants gave written informed consent. This experiment was part of a larger test session, where participants also completed additional questionnaires and performed a second experiment that is reported elsewhere (Korda et al, 2022).…”

“…Other eye behavior patterns associated with internal task performance include gaze aversion (Doherty-Sneddon & Phelps, 2005;Mastroberardino & Vredeveldt, 2014;Vredeveldt et al, 2011), increased fixation disparity (i.e., staring into space; Annerer- Walcher et al, 2018), as well as increased blink rates and durations (Annerer- Walcher et al, 2018;Walcher et al, 2017), which imply reduced visual perceptual engagement and increased workload, and thus offer further oculomotor evidence of perceptual decoupling. We have recently shown that perceptual decoupling effects are moderated by the task modality and workload of internal tasks, as these factors determine the degree of impairment on parallel voluntary eye movements, i.e., smooth pursuit (Korda et al, 2022). Specifically, smooth pursuit accuracy was reduced by internal tasks with higher workload and interference was higher for internal visuospatial task compared to arithmetic task.…”