Conditioned Compensation of Self-Generated Motion: Unifying the Flashed Face Distortion Effect and Cardiac-Microsaccade Coupling

Two seemingly disparate phenomena---the Flashed Face Distortion Effect (FFDE) and cardiac-microsaccade coupling---have resisted integration into mainstream theories of perception and oculomotor control. We propose that both reflect a common computational principle: \emph{classically conditioned compensatory control} of self-generated motion.The FFDE occurs when peripheral face transients trigger a conditioned self-motion compensation response normally deployed during locomotion; in the laboratory, this response is erroneously applied to static stimuli, producing grotesque distortions \citep{tucker2026ffi}. Cardiac-microsaccade coupling reflects a classically conditioned anticipatory response wherein baroreceptor signals (conditioned stimulus) predict pulse-induced globe displacement (unconditioned stimulus), eliciting precisely timed microsaccades that stabilize fixation before retinal slip occurs \citep{tucker2026cms}.Both phenomena demonstrate that perceptual stability emerges not from passive inference but from active, learned corrections to predictable perturbations. We formalize this \emph{Conditioned Compensation Framework}, derive nine testable predictions distinguishing it from feature-binding and epiphenomenal accounts, and propose critical experiments including a head-orientation dissociation that tests whether microsaccade coupling is physical or neural. The framework unifies exteroceptive (visual self-motion) and interoceptive (cardiac) stabilization under cerebellar learning mechanisms, with implications for consciousness research, developmental neuroscience, and clinical biomarker development.