Computation and physiology of sensory-motor processing in eye movements

Performance in sensory-motor behaviors guides our understanding of many of the key computational functions of the brain: the representation of sensory information, the translation of sensory signals to commands for movement, and the production of behavior. Eye movement behaviors have become a valuable testing ground for theories of neural computation because the neural circuitry has been well characterized and the mechanical control of the eye is comparatively simple. Here I review recent studies of eye movement behaviors that provide insight into sensory-motor computation at the single neuron and systems levels. They show that errors in sensory estimation dominate eye movement variability and that the motor system functions to reduce the behavioral impact of its own intrinsic noise sources.

► Noise in sensory processing, not in movement production, limits the precision of eye movement behaviors. ► The structure and scale of variation change with the source of sensory input. ► Movement kinematics and motor learning minimize the impact of motor noise. ► Connecting eye movement to cortical population responses may reveal the neural mechanisms of information coding.