The site of saccadic suppression

Abstract

During rapid eye movements, or saccades, stable vision is maintained by active reduction of visual sensitivity. The site of this saccadic suppression remains uncertain. Here we show that phosphenes—small illusory visual perceptions—induced by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the human occipital cortex are immune to saccadic suppression, whereas phosphenes induced by retinal stimulation are not, thus providing direct physiological evidence that saccadic suppression occurs between the retina and the occipital visual cortex.