Scrutinizing visual images: The role of gaze in mental imagery and memory

Laeng, Bruno; Bloem, Ilona M.; D’Ascenzo, Stefania; Tommasi, Luca

doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2014.01.003

Cited by 126 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 161 publications

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“…Furthermore, we were unable to find the corresponding area effect for error trials, thus replicating the previous findings of Martarelli and Mast (2011) imagery (e.g., Johansson & Johansson, 2014;Laeng et al, 2014). However, the best way to understand the sort of location that is being encoded remains the manipulation of eye position.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Using space to represent categories: insights from gaze position

Martarelli

Chiquet

Laeng

et al. 2016

Psychological Research

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We investigated the boundaries between imagery, memory, and perception by measuring gaze during retrieved versus imagined visual information. Eye fixations during recall were bound to the location at which a specific stimulus was encoded. However, eye position information generalized to novel objects of the same category that had not been seen before. For example, encoding an image of a dog in a specific location enhanced the likelihood of looking at the same location during subsequent mental imagery of other mammals. The results suggest that eye movements can also be launched by abstract representations of categories and not exclusively by a single episode or a specific visual exemplar.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Using space to represent categories: insights from gaze position

Martarelli

Chiquet

Laeng

et al. 2016

Psychological Research

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“…The authors concluded that eye movements play a functional role in memory recall. Similarly, it has recently been demonstrated that, when answering questions about previously encoded stimuli, participants make fewer errors when they are free to move their eyes during mental image generation compared with fixation [8]. These results suggest that eye movements support the generation of detailed mental images.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 48%

“…Impaired recall performance after interfering with the oculomotor system is in line with the findings of previous studies. These studies have demonstrated that retrieval is worse when eye movements are restricted to a specific region of the screen [2][3][6][7][8]20]. Specifically, recent findings indicate that object recall accuracy is impaired during central fixation compared with free viewing [8].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disrupting frontal eye-field activity impairs memory recall

et al. 2016

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A large body of research demonstrated that participants preferably look back to the encoding location when retrieving visual information from memory. However, the role of this 'looking back to nothing' is still debated. The goal of the present study was to extend this line of research by examining whether an important area in the cortical representation of the oculomotor system, the frontal eye field (FEF), is involved in memory retrieval. To interfere with the activity of the FEF, we used inhibitory continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS). Before stimulation was applied, participants encoded a complex scene and performed a short-term (immediately after encoding) or long-term (after 24 h) recall task, just after cTBS over the right FEF or sham stimulation. cTBS did not affect overall performance, but stimulation and statement type (object vs. location) interacted. cTBS over the right FEF tended to impair object recall sensitivity, whereas there was no effect on location recall sensitivity. These findings suggest that the FEF is involved in retrieving object information from scene memory, supporting the hypothesis that the oculomotor system contributes to memory recall. NeuroReport 00:000-000

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“…Johansson, Holsanova, & Holmqvist, 2006;Martarelli & Mast, 2011;Martarelli, Chiquet, Laeng, & Mast, 2016;Richardson & Spivey, 2000;Richardson & Kirkham, 2004;Spivey & Geng, 2001;Wantz, Martarelli, & Mast, 2016). Moreover, it has been shown that returning the eyes to spatial locations where the stimuli were previously encoded facilitates memory retrieval (Johansson, Holsanova, Dewhurst, & Holmqvist, 2012;Johansson & Johansson, 2014;Laeng & Teodorescu, 2002;Laeng, Bloem, D'Ascenzo, & Tommasi, 2014;Scholz, Mehlborn, & Krems, 2016). However, previous research investigating the "looking at nothing phenomenon" always presented visual information during encoding.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Time in the eye of the beholder: Gaze position reveals spatial-temporal associations during encoding and memory retrieval of future and past

2016

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Time in the eye of the beholder: Gaze position reveals spatial-temporal associations during encoding and memory retrieval of future and past AbstractTime is grounded in various ways, and previous studies point to a "mental time line" with past associated with the left, and future with the right side. In this study, we investigated whether spontaneous eye movements on a blank screen would follow a mental time line during encoding, free recall, and recognition of past and future items. In all three stages of processing, gaze position was more rightward during future items compared to past items.Moreover, horizontal gaze position during encoding predicted horizontal gaze position during free recall and recognition. We conclude that mental time line and the stored gaze position during encoding assist memory retrieval of past vs. future items. Our findings highlight the spatial nature of temporal representations.

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Scrutinizing visual images: The role of gaze in mental imagery and memory

Cited by 126 publications

References 161 publications

Using space to represent categories: insights from gaze position

Using space to represent categories: insights from gaze position

Disrupting frontal eye-field activity impairs memory recall

Time in the eye of the beholder: Gaze position reveals spatial-temporal associations during encoding and memory retrieval of future and past

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