We explore the inseparability of perception and movement. Our work demonstrates that visual and cognitive processes can only be understood in the context of active observers. In my work with Richard Schweitzer, for instance, we show that the sensory side effects of eye movements—such as motion blur during saccades, traditionally seen as a nuisance— play functional roles in active vision. My ERC-funded project VIS-À-VIS uncovers how motor kinematics shape perception and contribute to the seamlessness of visual experience. This approach informs both theories of human perception and the design of intelligent artificial systems, as part of Berlin’s Cluster of Excellence Science of Intelligence.

Review Article:

• Rolfs & Schweitzer (2022). Coupling perception to action through incidental sensory consequences of motor behavior Nature Reviews Psychology

Original Research (selection):

• Rolfs, Schweitzer, Castet, Watson & Ohl (2025). Lawful kinematics link eye movements to the limits of high-speed perception Nature Communications New!
• Schweitzer, Doering, Seel, Raisch & Rolfs (2025). Saccadic omission revisited: What saccade-induced smear looks like Psychological Review New!
• Rolfs & Hübner (2024). Blink and you see it Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA

In a second postdoc with Marisa Carrasco at New York University, I uncovered relations between goal-directed hand and eye movements and perception, including rapid simultaneous changes in visual performance and subjective appearance during movement planning. My group has since investigated the impact of eye movements on feature- and object-based selection, as well as selection in visual short-term memory. With Sven Ohl, we showed that saccadic behavior imposes a natural bottleneck on selective memory formation. Recent work implements these attentional mechanisms in models of eye movement control in dynamic, real-world scenes, confirming the ecological validity of our findings.

Review Articles:

• Heuer, Ohl & Rolfs (2020). Memory for action: A functional view of selection in visual working memory Visual Cognition
• Rolfs (2015). Attention in active vision: A perspective on perceptual continuity across saccades Perception

Original Research (selection):

• Ohl, Kroell & Rolfs (2024). Saccadic selection in visual working memory is robust across the visual field and linked to saccade metrics Journal of Experimental Psychology: General New!
• Roth, Rolfs, Hellwich & Obermayer (2023). Objects guide human gaze behavior in dynamic real-world scenes PLoS Computational Biology
• Shurygina, Pooresmaeili & Rolfs (2021). Pre-saccadic attention spreads to stimuli forming a perceptual group with the saccade target Cortex
• Ohl, S. & Rolfs (2017). Saccadic eye movements impose a natural bottleneck on visual short-term memory Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition
• Kalogeropoulou & Rolfs (2017). Saccadic eye movements do not disrupt the deployment of feature-based attention Journal of Vision
• Rolfs, Lawrence & Carrasco (2013). Reach preparation enhances visual performance and appearance Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Rolfs & Carrasco (2012). Rapid simultaneous enhancement of visual sensitivity and perceived contrast during saccade preparation Journal of Neuroscience

In a first postdoc with Patrick Cavanagh at Université Paris Descartes, I studied the continuity of perception in the face of saccadic eye movements that constantly, but predictably, change the input to the visual system. We developed a theory of visual stability based on remapping of attention pointers, in which visual continuity across retinal image shifts is achieved through updating of sparse representations of relevant locations in the scene. In recent work, spearheaded by Lisa M. Kroell, we found evidence that foveal vision anticipates the features of imminent saccade targets, providing a computationally feasible solution to seamless vision across fixations.

Review Article:

• Cavanagh, Hunt, Afraz & Rolfs (2010). Visual stability based on remapping of attention pointers Trends in Cognitive Sciences

Original Research (selection):

• Kroell & Rolfs (2025). The magnitude and time course of pre-saccadic foveal prediction depend on the conspicuity of the saccade target eLife New!
• Kroell & Rolfs (2022). Foveal vision anticipates defining features of eye movement targets eLife
• Jonikaitis, Szinte, Rolfs & Cavanagh (2013). Allocation of attention across saccades Journal of Neurophysiology
• Rolfs, Jonikaitis, Deubel & Cavanagh (2011). Predictive remapping of attention across eye movements Nature Neuroscience

Our research on corollary discharge signals illuminates how the brain monitors its own movements. These internal feedback mechanisms are crucial for accurate perception and motor learning—and provide behavioral tools to study disorders such as schizophrenia.

Review Article:

• Thakkar & Rolfs (2019). Disrupted corollary discharge in schizophrenia: evidence from the oculomotor system Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging
• Thakkar Diwadkar & Rolfs (2017). Oculomotor prediction: a window into the psychotic mind Trends in Cognitive Sciences

Original Research (selection):

• Yao, Rolfs, Roberts et al. (2024). Abnormal oculomotor corollary discharge signaling as a trans-diagnostic mechanism of psychosis Schizophrenia Bulletin
• Cassanello, Ostendorf & Rolfs (2019). A generative learning model for saccade adaptation PLoS Computational Biology
• Cassanello, Ohl & Rolfs (2016). Saccadic adaptation to a systematically varying disturbance Journal of Neurophysiology
• Rolfs, Knapen & Cavanagh (2010). Global saccadic adaptation Vision Research
• Collins, Rolfs, Deubel & Cavanagh (2009). Post-saccadic location judgments reveal remapping of saccade targets to non-foveal locations Journal of Vision

We investigate how the visual system extracts causal relationships from motion. Using visual adaptation paradigms, we identify perceptual processes that support the rapid interpretation of dynamic events—bridging perception and cognition. Our most recent work in this domain results from a close collaboration with Sven Ohl's Mind in Action lab.

Original Research (selection):

• Ohl & Rolfs (2025). Visual routines for detecting causal interactions are tuned to motion direction eLife New!
• Rolfs & Dambacher (2016). What draws the line between perception and cognition? Behavioral and Brain Sciences
• Rolfs, Dambacher & Cavanagh (2013). Visual adaptation of the perception of causality Current Biology

My early work focused on microsaccades—miniature eye movements occurring during attempted fixation—and their relation to attention. During my PhD, I developed a model explaining how fixational eye movements emerge from established physiological processes underlying saccade generation. This work provided parsimonious explanations of the links between microsaccades and attention and inspired numerous follow-up studies. More recently, Alex L. White and I uncovered a fundamental link between an oculomotor reflex and an observer's awareness of a stimulus: oculomotor freezing—the rapid inhibition of saccades following a stimulus—occurs only if the observer becomes aware of the stimulus. This provides an objective measure of perception that does not require explicit reports from the observer.

Review Article:

• Rolfs, M. (2009). Microsaccades: Small steps on a long way Vision Research, 49, 2415-2441

Original Research (selection):

• White, A.L., Moreland, J., & Rolfs, M. (2022). Oculomotor freezing indicates conscious detection free of decision bias Journal of Neurophysiology, 127(2), 571-585
• White, A.L. & Rolfs, M. (2016). Oculomotor inhibition covaries with conscious detection Journal of Neurophysiology, 116, 1507-1521
• Rolfs, M., Kliegl, R., & Engbert, R. (2008). Towards a model of microsaccade generation: The case of microsaccadic inhibition Journal of Vision, 8(11):5, 1-23
• Rolfs, M., Engbert, R., & Kliegl, R. (2004). Microsaccade orientation supports attentional enhancement opposite to a peripheral cue Psychological Science, 15, 705-707