A pipelining mechanism supporting previewing during visual exploration and reading

Humans have a remarkable ability to efficiently explore visual scenes and text by means of eye-movements. Humans typically make eye-movements (saccades) every ~250ms. Since the saccadic motor planning and execution takes 100ms this leaves only ~150ms to recognize the fixated object (or word), while simultaneously previewing candidates for the next saccade goal. We propose a pipelining mechanism that efficiently can coordinate visual exploration and reading. The mechanism is timed by alpha oscillations that coordinate the saccades, visual recognition and previewing in the cortical hierarchy. Consequently, the neuronal mechanism supporting visual processing and saccades must be studied in unison to uncover the brain mechanism supporting visual exploration and reading. Highlights ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.