Online corrections can produce illusory bias during closed-loop pointing

Abstract

This experiment examined whether the impact of pictorial illusions during the execution of goal-directed reaching movements is attributable to ocular motor signaling. We analyzed eye and hand movements directed toward both the vertex of the Müller-Lyer (ML) figure in a closed-loop procedure. Participants pointed to the right vertex of a visual stimulus in two conditions: a control condition wherein the figure (in-ML, neutral, out-ML) presented at response planning remained unchanged throughout the movement, and an experimental condition wherein a neutral figure presented at response planning was perturbed to an illusory figure (in-ML, out-ML) at movement onset. Consistent with previous work from our group (Heath et al. in Exp Brain Res 158:378-384, 2004; Heath et al. in J Mot Behav 37:179-185, 2005b), action-bias present in both conditions; thus illusory bias was introduced into during online control. Although primary saccades were influenced by illusory configurations (control conditions; see Binsted and Elliott in Hum Mov Sci 18:103-117, 1999a), illusory bias developed within the secondary "corrective" saccades during experimental trials (i.e., following a veridical primary saccade). These results support the position that a unitary spatial representation underlies both action and perception and this representation is common to both the manual and oculomotor systems.