Geometry of visuospatial working memory information in miniature gaze patterns

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftForschungsartikelBeigetragenBegutachtung

Beitragende

  • Juan Linde-Domingo - , Max Planck Institute for Human Development, University of Granada (Autor:in)
  • Bernhard Spitzer - , Max Planck Institute for Human Development (Autor:in)

Abstract

Stimulus-dependent eye movements have been recognized as a potential confound in decoding visual working memory information from neural signals. Here we combined eye-tracking with representational geometry analyses to uncover the information in miniature gaze patterns while participants (n = 41) were cued to maintain visual object orientations. Although participants were discouraged from breaking fixation by means of real-time feedback, small gaze shifts (<1°) robustly encoded the to-be-maintained stimulus orientation, with evidence for encoding two sequentially presented orientations at the same time. The orientation encoding on stimulus presentation was object-specific, but it changed to a more object-independent format during cued maintenance, particularly when attention had been temporarily withdrawn from the memorandum. Finally, categorical reporting biases increased after unattended storage, with indications of biased gaze geometries already emerging during the maintenance periods before behavioural reporting. These findings disclose a wealth of information in gaze patterns during visuospatial working memory and indicate systematic changes in representational format when memory contents have been unattended.

Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)336-348
Seitenumfang16
FachzeitschriftNature human behaviour
Jahrgang8
Ausgabenummer2
Frühes Online-Datum18 Dez. 2023
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - Feb. 2024
Peer-Review-StatusJa
Extern publiziertJa

Externe IDs

PubMed 38110511
ORCID /0000-0001-9752-932X/work/182336658