Smooth tracking of visual targets distinguishes lucid REM sleep dreaming and waking perception from imagination.

People typically cannot smoothly track imagined objects with their eyes, but during REM sleep dreams, smooth pursuit eye movements occur when tracking a slow-moving visual target in a lucid dream. These movements closely resemble those during actual perception, unlike the jerky, saccadic tracking seen during waking imagination. The findings indicate that visual imagery in REM sleep is more like perception than imagination, showing that the brain's smooth pursuit circuitry can be activated by a visual experience without retinal input. Voluntary gaze shifts within dreams also correspond to physical eye rotations.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Humans are typically unable to engage in sustained smooth pursuit for imagined objects. However, it is unknown to what extent smooth tracking occurs for visual imagery during REM sleep dreaming. Here we examine smooth pursuit eye movements during tracking of a slow-moving visual target during lucid dreams in REM sleep. Highly similar smooth pursuit tracking was observed during both waking perception and lucid REM sleep dreaming, in contrast to the characteristically saccadic tracking observed during visuomotor imagination. Our findings suggest that, in this respect, the visual imagery that occurs during REM sleep is more similar to perception than imagination. The data also show that the neural circuitry of smooth pursuit can be driven by a visual percept in the absence of retinal stimulation and that specific voluntary shifts in the direction of experienced gaze within REM sleep dreams are accompanied by corresponding rotations of the physical eyes.