The execution of saccadic eye movements suppresses visual processing of both color and luminance in the early visual cortex of humans

Our eyes execute rapid, directional movements known as saccades, occurring several times per second, to focus on objects of interest in our environment. During these movements, visual sensitivity is temporarily reduced. Despite numerous studies on this topic, the underlying mechanism remains elusive, including a lingering debate on whether saccadic suppression affects the parvocellular visual pathway. To address this issue, we conducted a study employing steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) elicited by chromatic and luminance stimuli, while observers performed saccadic eye movements. We also employed an innovative analysis pipeline to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio, yielding superior results compared to the previous method. Our findings revealed a clear suppression effect on SSVEP signals during saccades when compared to fixation periods. Notably, this suppression effect was comparable for both chromatic and luminance stimuli. We went further to measure the suppression effect across various contrast levels, which enabled us to model SSVEP responses using contrast response functions. The results suggest that saccades primarily reduce response gain without significantly affecting contrast gain, and that this reduction applies uniformly to both chromatic and luminance pathways. In summary, our study provides robust evidence that saccades similarly suppress visual processing in both the parvocellular and magnocellular pathways within the human early visual cortex, as indicated by SSVEP responses. The observation that saccadic eye movements impact response gain rather than contrast gain implies that they influence visual processing through a multiplicative mechanism.