Relations between the amplitudes of spontaneous saccades and visual responses*

Electroretinograms and visually evoked cortical potentials, dependent on the occurence of spontaneous saccadic eye movements, were recorded from human observers. A computer system was used to isolate average-response waveforms that result from saccadic displacements of the retinal image. The responses were recorded as the observer fixed his eye on the center of a steady pattern of vertical stripes presented in maxwellian view. The responses depended on the spatial frequency of the pattern being viewed; in all cases, they were proportional to the extent of saccadic movement. The results are interpreted in terms of response additivity and the numbers of cones stimulated by the image displacement.