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When reading text, typical adults exhibit a specific gaze pattern consisting of alternations between fast movements (i.e., saccades) and periods of low velocity (i.e., fixations). It is widely accepted that saccades are made to orient the fovea towards the next letters to read while fixations are used to maintain the fovea on these letters and decode them with maximal visual acuity. It has been suggested that this eye movement pattern is mandatory to read efficiently. Here, we asked a individual with a rare congenital horizontal gaze paralysis (i.e., Moebius syndrome) to read simple sentences in French while recording her gaze movements. She uses movements of the head to compensate for the absence of eye movements. Despite her condition, her ability to read accurately is preserved. The close inspection of her gaze patterns revealed that she did not execute movements that resemble saccades. Moreover, she did not exhibit periods akin to fixations. Alternatively, her gaze movements resembled to slow and continuous drifts. This suggests that saccades and/or fixations are not mandatory and that the reduced acuity during slow head movements is sufficient to extract the meaning of words.
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Masson, N., Geers, L., Vannuscorps, G., & Andres, M. (2024). How does congenital gaze paralysis affect visual cognition. Cognition and Action Spring workshop 2024, Brussels. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/238071