Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Briefing
  • Published:

How the retina keeps the precise timing needed for coherent visual perception

To perceive events as simultaneous despite differences in how sensory signals are generated and transmitted, the brain must preserve temporal coherence. We found that retinal ganglion cells adjust the speed with which they transmit neural signals, revealing a mechanism in the human retina to keep visual perception precisely timed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Measuring action potential trajectories in the human fovea.

References

  1. Seidl, A. H., Rubel, E. W. & Harris, D. M. Mechanisms for adjusting interaural time differences to achieve binaural coincidence detection. J. Neurosci. 30, 70–80 (2010). This article presents how the auditory system achieves precise action potential arrival times.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Pulfrich, C. Die stereoskopie im dienste der isochromen und heterochromen photometrie. Sci. Nat. 10, 751–761 (1922). This article is a classic of vision literature that presents how small temporal differences between the arrival times of action potentials from the two eyes are at the basis of human depth perception.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bryman, G. S., Liu, A. & Do, M. T. H. Optimized signal flow through photoreceptors supports the high-acuity vision of primates. Neuron 108, 335–348.e7 (2020). Although the primary concern of this article is with specific biophysical properties of the fovea, it provides a nice overview of the foveal architecture.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Zeck, G., Lambacher, A. & Fromherz, P. Axonal transmission in the retina introduces a small dispersion of relative timing in the ganglion cell population response. PLoS ONE 6, e20810 (2011). This article reports on the conduction speed of RGC axons in rabbits and finds no differences across the retina.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This is a summary of: Bucci, A. et al. Synchronization of visual perception within the human fovea. Nat. Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-02011-3 (2025).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

How the retina keeps the precise timing needed for coherent visual perception. Nat Neurosci 28, 1818–1819 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-02012-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-02012-2

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing