Humans have a remarkable ability to efficiently explore visual scenes and text using eye movements. Humans typically make eye movements (saccades) every ~250 ms. Since saccade initiation and execution take 100 ms, this leaves only ~150 ms to recognize the fixated object (or word) while simultaneously previewing candidates for the next saccade goal. We propose a pipelining mechanism where serial processing occurs within a specific brain region, whereas parallel processing occurs across different brain regions. The mechanism is timed by alpha oscillations that coordinate the saccades, visual recognition, and previewing in the cortical hierarchy. Consequently, the neuronal mechanism supporting natural vision and saccades must be studied in unison to uncover the brain mechanisms supporting visual exploration and reading.

人类具有利用眼球运动有效探索视觉场景和文本的非凡能力。人类通常每约 250 毫秒进行一次眼球运动（眼跳）。由于扫视启动和执行需要 100 毫秒，因此只剩下约 150 毫秒来识别固定对象（或单词），同时预览下一个扫视目标的候选对象。我们提出了一种流水线机制，其中串行处理发生在特定的大脑区域内，而并行处理发生在不同的大脑区域内。该机制通过协调皮层层次结构中的眼跳、视觉识别和预览的阿尔法振荡来计时。因此，必须统一研究支持自然视觉和眼跳的神经机制，以揭示支持视觉探索和阅读的大脑机制。