Abstract
There are an infinite number of ways that our eyes could rotate in order to fixate on a point in visual space, but humans' eyes consistently choose rotation axes that lie in head-fixed 'Listing's planes''. Not only are these planes always exorotated relative to planes that lie flat against the head, but the orientation of these planes changes systematically with fixation point. Previous investigators have tried to quantitatively explain the existence and orientation of these planes for centuries, and the current visuomotor optimization theory explains the systematic variation of Listing's plane orientation with changes in fixation point. However, when this visuomotor optimization theory is evaluated carefully using a more recent understanding of naturalistic fixation point distribution, it cannot explain the exorotation of Listing's planes during viewing of far-away objects. We develop a new visuomotor optimization theory that balances metabolic energy expenditure of both our eye musculature and the axons of interneuronal neurons in V1 against our ability to fuse the two disparate retinal images. The former factor is crucial for understanding the systematic variation of Listing's plane orientation upon viewing nearby objects, and the latter factor is crucial for understanding Listing's plane exorotation when viewing far-away objects.
Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2013