Have you ever wondered why your vision remains sharp even while you’re moving quickly?
A team of neuroscientists, led by Professor Maximilian Jösch at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), discovered a mechanism in animals that corrects visual distortions caused by movement. Their study in mice may apply to the vertebrate visual system, including humans.
Despite the advances in video cameras, capturing footage with the precision of the human eye is still a challenge, especially for action cameras in dynamic environments. This raises the question: How do our eyes do it so well?
Researchers at ISTA, led by Professor Jösch, have answered this question with groundbreaking research. Scientists Tomas Vega-Zuniga, Anton Sumser, and Olga Symonova found a brain region in mice that predicts and minimizes visual distortions caused by movement. This deep brain region copies the brain’s motor commands to suppress movement-induced distortions early in visual processing.
“We show that image correction happens very early during visual processing before the information is transmitted to other brain areas,” says Jösch. “This demonstrates that the brain efficiently compensates for movement by predicting its effects on vision.”
The Brain’s Built-In High-Tech Video Optimization
The scientists found that the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN) in the lateral thalamus is responsible for this built-in visual correction. The vLGN combines motor and sensory signals from different brain regions to create a corrective signal, making later stages of visual processing more efficient.
“Think of strategies to get clear video footage during a Formula 1 race. The exposure time must be reduced to make the footage less blurry,” explains Jösch. Similarly, the vLGN helps us distinguish our own motion from the world around us, dynamically compensating for motion to stabilize our perception.
Unveiling a Core Visual Function
Previous research focused on cortical structures involved in later stages of visual processing. However, the ISTA scientists discovered that early compensation for movement in vision provides better results.
Their findings suggest that the vLGN in mice represents a core function in the mammalian brain, likely applicable to primates and humans.
“Similar structures exist in primates, which is very likely the case for humans, too. This makes our results very exciting,” says Jösch.
Cutting-Edge Techniques
The researchers used a custom-built two-photon calcium imaging microscope to measure the activity of vLGN neurons in awake mice exploring a virtual reality system. This method showed that the vLGN receives specific instructions to correct visual distortions during movement.
“This paper was a real technical tour de force, using multiple approaches to gain a comprehensive understanding of the vLGN’s role in the brain,” says Jösch. “We are excited to see where follow-up studies will take us.”
Journal Reference:
- Vega-Zuniga, T., Sumser, A., Symonova, O. et al. A thalamic hub-and-spoke network enables visual perception during action by coordinating visuomotor dynamics. Nat Neurosci (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-025-01874-w
Source: Tech Explorist
