Our eye movements help us retrieve memories, suggests new study

[Jim__]

From MedicalXpress.

An excerpt:

In a recent study, scientists at Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute (RRI) found that research participants moved their eyes to determine whether they had seen an image before, and that their eye movement patterns could predict mistakes in memory. They obtained these results using an innovative new eye tracking technique they developed.

"Our findings indicate that eye movements play a functional role in memory retrieval," says Dr. Jennifer Ryan, senior scientist at the RRI and Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience of Memory. "They can tell us a lot about someone's memory."

This study builds on previous Baycrest research examining the link between eye movements and memory, including the role of our eye movements in memorization and the weakening connection between our eye movements and our brain activity as we age.

"When we see a picture, a face or something else that we have already seen, our eyes tend to look at the same locations as they did the first time. The brain compares important characteristics of what we are seeing to a mental picture in our memory, and it identifies the two as the same," says Dr. Bradley Buchsbaum, senior scientist at the RRI. "The brain is pretty good at this, even in conditions of lower visibility."

more ...

[MFGsunny]

1. A very good read. n/t

[captain queeg]

2. I did some therapy years ago, something EMDI, don't remember the exact initials

But part of it was talking thru memories while the therapist got you to move your eyes. I don’t know if it helped, didn’t notice anything but she said I wouldn’t. It was about painful childhood memories.

[Duppers]

3. How would this relate to blind people with good memory?

Hmmm.

[Jim__]

4. This is about recalling visual images.

"When we see a picture, a face or something else that we have already seen, our eyes tend to look at the same locations as they did the first time. The brain compares important characteristics of what we are seeing to a mental picture in our memory, and it identifies the two as the same," ...

I didn't get the impression that this eye movement occurred with every recollection; but that it is about our eyes retracing the movements they made upon first seeing something when we try to recollect that visual image.

[Duppers]

5. I read the whole article

And found it very interesting and wondered if this could be applied to blind people in any way.

[Jim__]

6. The article at phys.org doesn't talk about that and the PNAS article is behind a paywall.

This study of eye movement does seem to be one aspect of a more general concern of neural science with pattern completion. There are some other PNAS articles on pattern completion that are open access. The 3 articles that are referenced don't specifically address blindness. It may just be that eye movement is an easy way to track pattern completion.