Normally, motor actions are executed based on decisions formed in the mind, so conventional research has considered that motor actions unrelated to decision-making are not affected by decision-making.For example, even if one chooses one favorite option from among the options presented as visual information, the motor act of directing one's gaze to an area unrelated to the chosen option is thought to be unaffected by decision-making. .

　This time, a research group led by Professor Kazumichi Matsumiya of the Tohoku University Graduate School of Information Science and Technology is investigating how movement is affected when a person performs a motor act unrelated to the decision immediately after making a decision. did.Specifically, while making a decision to judge the direction of movement of a visual motion stimulus, we asked the subjects to simultaneously perform a hand reaching movement and an eye movement that were unrelated to the decision, and measured the movement reaction time.

　As a result, it was found that among hand reaching movements and eye movements, only the reaction time of eye movements varied depending on the difficulty of determining the movement direction of the visual motion stimulus.In other words, it can be said that eye movements are influenced by decision-making even if they are not related to the decision-making task performed immediately before.

　This study shows that even when performing motor actions unrelated to decision-making, decision-making signals continuously flow to the eye movement system, and that there is a strong link between decision-making and eye movements. It shows.This suggests the possibility of inferring invisible mental decision-making in real time from visible eye movements.

　If we can visualize decision-making, we can predict what people are going to do next or what they are thinking and take countermeasures, which can be useful for mental care support, dementia care support, crime prevention, etc. Be expected.

Paper information:[Communications Biology] Perceptual decisions interfere more with eye movements than withreach movements