2026/06/01 by Freek van Ede · 1 voice
Neuroscience · #Association (psychology) #Complement (music) #Eye movement #Eye tracking #Gaze #Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies #Perspective (graphical) #Spatial Neglect and Hemispheric Dysfunction #Visual perception and processing mechanisms #Working memory
paper · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2026.06.001
published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences (Elsevier BV)
openalex publication_date 2026/06/01 · openalex created_date 2026/06/19 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/20
Understanding how humans select, rehearse, and transform internal representations 'in mind' is vital. Gaining access to these latent working-memory processes, however, is not trivial. Here, I review the recent discovery that working-memory processes 'leak' into spatial biases in minuscule eye movements known as microsaccades. I first unpack this central finding and position it alongside complementary findings from the literature on attention, memory, and eye movements. Next, I adopt a pragmatic perspective, showcasing how microsaccade biases can be leveraged as a versatile signal to 'track' working-memory processes, with benefits that complement traditional brain-imaging approaches. Finally, I outline opportunities and future avenues opened by this recently exposed and remarkably reliable association between externally accessible micro eye movements and internal working-memory processes.