Stabilized images

Stabilized Images are images on the retina that are unaffected by microsaccade or ocular microtremor (OMT). Experiments by Riggs and Ratliff (1950) ) established the remarkable finding that stabilized images result in the fading and disappearance of the visual percept. Some think that this demonstrates adaptation of the sensory retinal cells, but it may have a more profound involvement in the functioning of neural cliques, cell assemblies (cf. Hebbian theory) and patterns for memory.  Images can be stabilized mechanically with optics mounted on the eye itself, or the eye can be braced mechanically so that its motion is drastically reduced. High contrast luminance gratings stabilized on the retina with a Purkinje images eyetracker do not disappear completely. This could be due to small errors of stabilization, as small as 8 sec of arc.