Intentionally versus spontaneously prolonged Gaze: A MEG study of active gaze-based interaction

IF 3.3 2区心理学 Q1 BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Cortex Pub Date : 2025-05-31 DOI:10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.010

Anatoly N. Vasilyev , Evgeniy P. Svirin , Ignat A. Dubynin , Anna V. Butorina , Yuri O. Nuzhdin , Alexei E. Ossadtchi , Tatiana A. Stroganova , Sergei L. Shishkin

{"title":"Intentionally versus spontaneously prolonged Gaze: A MEG study of active gaze-based interaction","authors":"Anatoly N. Vasilyev , Evgeniy P. Svirin , Ignat A. Dubynin , Anna V. Butorina , Yuri O. Nuzhdin , Alexei E. Ossadtchi , Tatiana A. Stroganova , Sergei L. Shishkin","doi":"10.1016/j.cortex.2025.05.010","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Eye fixations are increasingly employed to control computers through gaze-sensitive interfaces, yet the brain mechanisms supporting this non-visual use of gaze remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed 306-channel magnetoencephalography (MEG) to find out what is specific to brain activity when gaze is used voluntarily for control.</div><div>MEG was recorded while participants played a video game controlled by their eye movements. Each move required object selection by fixating it for at least 500 msec. Gaze dwells were classified as intentional if followed by a confirmation gaze on a designated location and as spontaneous otherwise.</div><div>We identified both induced oscillatory and sustained phase-locked MEG activity differentiating intentional and spontaneous gaze dwells. Induced power analysis revealed prominent alpha-beta band synchronization (8–30 Hz) localized in the frontal cortex, with location broadly consistent with the frontal eye fields. This synchronization began 500–750 msec before intentional fixation onset and peaked shortly after it, suggesting proactive inhibition of saccadic activity. Sustained evoked responses further distinguished the two conditions, showing gradually rising cortical activation with a maximum at 200 msec post-onset in the inferior temporal cortex during intentional fixations, likely indicative of focused attentional engagement on spatial targets. These findings illuminate the neural dynamics underlying intentional gaze control, shedding light on the roles of proactive inhibitory mechanisms and attentional processes in voluntary behavior.</div><div>By leveraging a naturalistic gaze-based interaction paradigm, this study offers a novel framework for investigating voluntary control under free behavior conditions and holds potential applications for enhancing hybrid eye-brain-computer interfaces.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10758,"journal":{"name":"Cortex","volume":"189 ","pages":"Pages 76-96"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cortex","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945225001406","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Eye fixations are increasingly employed to control computers through gaze-sensitive interfaces, yet the brain mechanisms supporting this non-visual use of gaze remain poorly understood. In this study, we employed 306-channel magnetoencephalography (MEG) to find out what is specific to brain activity when gaze is used voluntarily for control.

MEG was recorded while participants played a video game controlled by their eye movements. Each move required object selection by fixating it for at least 500 msec. Gaze dwells were classified as intentional if followed by a confirmation gaze on a designated location and as spontaneous otherwise.

We identified both induced oscillatory and sustained phase-locked MEG activity differentiating intentional and spontaneous gaze dwells. Induced power analysis revealed prominent alpha-beta band synchronization (8–30 Hz) localized in the frontal cortex, with location broadly consistent with the frontal eye fields. This synchronization began 500–750 msec before intentional fixation onset and peaked shortly after it, suggesting proactive inhibition of saccadic activity. Sustained evoked responses further distinguished the two conditions, showing gradually rising cortical activation with a maximum at 200 msec post-onset in the inferior temporal cortex during intentional fixations, likely indicative of focused attentional engagement on spatial targets. These findings illuminate the neural dynamics underlying intentional gaze control, shedding light on the roles of proactive inhibitory mechanisms and attentional processes in voluntary behavior.

By leveraging a naturalistic gaze-based interaction paradigm, this study offers a novel framework for investigating voluntary control under free behavior conditions and holds potential applications for enhancing hybrid eye-brain-computer interfaces.

查看原文本刊更多论文

有意与自发延长凝视：一项基于主动凝视的脑磁图研究

人们越来越多地通过注视敏感界面来控制计算机，然而，支持这种非视觉注视使用的大脑机制仍然知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们使用了306通道脑磁图（MEG）来找出当凝视被自愿用于控制时大脑活动的特异性。当参与者玩由眼球运动控制的视频游戏时，脑电信号被记录下来。每次移动都需要通过固定对象至少500毫秒来选择对象。凝视行为被归类为有意的，如果随后在指定地点进行确认凝视，否则归类为自发的。我们确定了诱发振荡和持续锁相脑电活动区分有意和自发凝视驻留。诱导功率分析显示，显著的α - β波段同步（8-30 Hz）位于额叶皮层，其位置与额叶视野大致一致。这种同步在有意注视开始前500-750毫秒开始，并在此之后不久达到顶峰，表明跳眼活动受到了主动抑制。持续诱发反应进一步区分了这两种情况，显示出皮层激活逐渐上升，在蓄意注视期间，下颞叶皮层在200毫秒后达到最大值，可能表明注意力集中在空间目标上。这些发现阐明了有意凝视控制背后的神经动力学，揭示了主动抑制机制和注意过程在自愿行为中的作用。通过利用基于自然注视的交互范式，本研究为研究自由行为条件下的自愿控制提供了一个新的框架，并在增强眼-脑-机混合接口方面具有潜在的应用前景。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Cortex 医学-行为科学

CiteScore

7.00

自引率

5.60%

发文量

250

审稿时长

74 days

期刊介绍： CORTEX is an international journal devoted to the study of cognition and of the relationship between the nervous system and mental processes, particularly as these are reflected in the behaviour of patients with acquired brain lesions, normal volunteers, children with typical and atypical development, and in the activation of brain regions and systems as recorded by functional neuroimaging techniques. It was founded in 1964 by Ennio De Renzi.