Lens Oscillations in the Human Eye. Implications for Post-Saccadic Suppression of Vision

The eye changes gaze continuously from one visual stimulus to another. Using a high speed camera to record eye and lens movements we demonstrate how the crystalline lens sustains an inertial oscillatory decay movement immediately after every change of gaze. This behavior fit precisely with the movement of a classical damped harmonic oscillator. The time course of the oscillations range from 50 to 60 msec with an oscillation frequency of around 20 Hz. That has dramatic implications on the image quality at the retina on the very short times (∼50 msec) that follow the movement. However, it is well known that our vision is nearly suppressed on those periods (post-saccadic suppression). Both phenomenon follow similar time courses and therefore might be synchronized to avoid the visual impairment.