Eye movements are inhibited prior to the occurrence of temporally predictable events. This ‘oculomotor inhibition effect’ has been demonstrated with various tasks and modalities. Specifically, it was shown that when intervals between cue and target are fixed, saccade rate prior to the target is lower than when they are varied. However, it is still an open question whether this effect is linked to temporal expectation to the predictable target, or to the duration estimation of the interval preceding it. Here, we examined this question in 20 participants while they performed an implicit temporal expectation and an explicit time estimation task. In each trial, following cue onset, two consecutive grating patches were presented, each preceded by an interval. Temporal expectation was manipulated by setting the first interval duration to be either fixed or varied within each block. Participants were requested to compare either the durations of the two intervals (time estimation), or the tilts of the two grating patches (temporal expectation). Saccade rate, measured prior to the first grating, was lower in the fixed relative to the varied condition of both tasks. This suggests that the inhibition effect is elicited by target predictability and indicates that it is linked to temporal expectation, rather than to time estimation processes. Additionally, this finding suggests that the oculomotor inhibition is independent of motor readiness, as it was elicited even when no response was required. We conclude that the prestimulus oculomotor inhibition effect can be used as a marker of temporal expectation, and discuss its potential underlying mechanisms.

在时间上可预测的事件发生之前，眼睛的运动受到抑制。这种“动眼神经抑制作用”已通过各种任务和方式得到证实。具体地说，表明当提示与目标之间的间隔固定时，目标之前的扫视率低于变化时的扫视率。但是，这个效果是否与对可预测目标的时间预期或与之前的时间间隔的持续时间相关联，仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。在这里，我们在20位参与者执行隐式时间期望和显式时间估计任务的同时检查了这个问题。在每次试验中，在提示发生后，均提出了两个连续的光栅斑块，每个斑块之前都有一个间隔。通过将每个块内的第一个间隔持续时间设置为固定或可变，可以操纵时间期望。要求参与者比较两个间隔的持续时间（时间估计）或两个光栅块的倾斜度（时间期望）。相对于两个任务的变化情况，在第一个光栅之前测得的扫视率在固定条件下较低。这表明抑制作用是由目标的可预测性引起的，表明抑制作用与时间预期有关，而不是与时间估计过程有关。另外，该发现表明动眼抑制不依赖于运动准备状态，因为即使不需要响应时也会引起动眼抑制。我们得出的结论是，刺激前动眼抑制作用可以用作时间期望的标志，