Short-Latency Fixational Saccades Induced by Luminance Increments

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Abstract
We investigated the effect of peripheral visual stimulation on small-amplitude saccades that occur naturally during fixation. Two macaque monkeys were rewarded for fixating while a colorful stimulus flickered randomly in the periphery. Reverse correlation revealed a lawful relationship between the stimulus sequence and saccade occurrences: on average, a transient increase in stimulus intensity evoked saccades at a latency of ∼70 ms. The spectral tuning of this increase was roughly, but not exactly, consistent with a pure luminance increase. We conclude that peripheral luminance increases can evoke fixational saccades.