It is very difficult to manipulate the rotation signals from the eye
muscles.
Two researchers from Japan, Higashiyama and Adachi, had a cool idea, they asked people to put their
heads upside down, so muscles have to work against gravity in an
unusual way. They show changes in depth perception in this condition, which underscores the importance of the sensorimotor signals to spatial cognition.
You can read their paper here and you can have a chuckle about the 2016 IgNobels here
In our lab we have been applying Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) over the somatosensory cortex to manipulate oculoproprioception in a slightly more controlled way. No IgNobels so far…
On a serious note, it is great to see eye proprioception, a relatively “nerdy” topic, featuring in the main-stream media. Also nice to have a Plan B for the lab, just in case the TMS machine stops working 🙂
