Covert attention regulates saccadic reaction time by routing between different visual-oculomotor pathways

2012 ◽  
Vol 107 (6) ◽  
pp. 1748-1755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaobo Guan ◽  
Yu Liu ◽  
Ruobing Xia ◽  
Mingsha Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Relative Proportion ◽  
Irrelevant Stimulus ◽  
Bimodal Distribution ◽  
Abrupt Onset ◽  
Saccadic Reaction Time ◽  
Covert Attention ◽  
Visuomotor Transformation ◽  
Express Saccade ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Covert attention modulates saccadic performance, e.g., the abrupt onset of a task-irrelevant visual stimulus grabs attention as measured by a decrease in saccadic reaction time (SRT). The attentional advantage bestowed by the task-irrelevant stimulus is short-lived: SRT is actually longer ∼200 ms after the onset of a stimulus than it is when no stimulus appears, known as inhibition of return. The mechanism by which attention modulates saccadic reaction is not well-understood. Here, we propose two possible mechanisms: by selective routing of the visuomotor signal through different pathways (routing hypothesis) or by general modulation of the speed of visuomotor transformation (shifting hypothesis). To test them, we designed a cue gap paradigm in which a 100-ms gap was introduced between the fixation point disappearance and the target appearance to the conventional cued visual reaction time paradigm. The cue manipulated the location of covert attention, and the gap interval resulted in a bimodal distribution of SRT, with an early mode (express saccade) and a late mode (regular saccade). The routing hypothesis predicts changes in the proportion of express saccades vs. regular saccades, whereas the shifting hypothesis predicts a shift of SRT distribution. The addition of the cue had no effect on mean reaction time of express and regular saccades, but it changed the relative proportion of two modes. These results demonstrate that the covert attention modification of the mean SRT is largely attributed to selective routing between visuomotor pathways rather than general modulation of the speed of visuomotor transformation.

scholarly journals Saccadic reaction time and ocular findings in phenylketonuria

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Hopf ◽  
Caroline Nowak ◽  
Julia B. Hennermann ◽  
Irene Schmidtmann ◽  
Norbert Pfeiffer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Saccadic Reaction Time ◽  
Ocular Findings

scholarly journals Systemic Effects of Selection History on Learned Ignoring

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Jeesu Kim ◽  
Brian A. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Reaction Time ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
High Probability ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Systemic Effects ◽  
Reduced Frequency ◽  
Selection History ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Despite our best intentions, physically salient but entirely task-irrelevant stimuli can sometimes capture our attention. With learning, it is possible to more efficiently ignore such stimuli, although specifically how the visual system accomplishes this remains to be clarified. Using a sample of young-adult participants, we examined the time course of eye movements to targets and distractors. We replicate a reduced frequency of eye movements to the distractor when appearing in a location at which distractors are frequently encountered. This reduction was observed even for the earliest saccades, when selection tends to be most stimulus-driven. When the distractor appeared at the high-probability location, saccadic reaction time was slowed specifically for distractor-going saccades, suggesting a slowing of priority accumulation at this location. In the event that the distractor was fixated, disengagement from the distractor was also faster when it appeared in the high-probability location. Both proactive and reactive mechanisms of distractor suppression work together to minimize attentional capture by frequently-encountered distractors.

scholarly journals Factors Influencing Saccadic Reaction Time: Effect of Task Modality, Stimulus Saliency, Spatial Congruency of Stimuli, and Pupil Size

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimpei Yamagishi ◽  
Shigeto Furukawa
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Locus Coeruleus ◽  
Pupil Size ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Saccadic Reaction Time ◽  
Auditory Target ◽  
Target Condition ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Stimulus Saliency

It is often assumed that the reaction time of a saccade toward visual and/or auditory stimuli reflects the sensitivities of our oculomotor-orienting system to stimulus saliency. Endogenous factors, as well as stimulus-related factors, would also affect the saccadic reaction time (SRT). However, it was not clear how these factors interact and to what extent visual and auditory-targeting saccades are accounted for by common mechanisms. The present study examined the effect of, and the interaction between, stimulus saliency and audiovisual spatial congruency on the SRT for visual- and for auditory-target conditions. We also analyzed pre-target pupil size to examine the relationship between saccade preparation and pupil size. Pupil size is considered to reflect arousal states coupling with locus-coeruleus (LC) activity during a cognitive task. The main findings were that (1) the pattern of the examined effects on the SRT varied between visual- and auditory-auditory target conditions, (2) the effect of stimulus saliency was significant for the visual-target condition, but not significant for the auditory-target condition, (3) Pupil velocity, not absolute pupil size, was sensitive to task set (i.e., visual-targeting saccade vs. auditory-targeting saccade), and (4) there was a significant correlation between the pre-saccade absolute pupil size and the SRTs for the visual-target condition but not for the auditory-target condition. The discrepancy between target modalities for the effect of pupil velocity and between the absolute pupil size and pupil velocity for the correlation with SRT may imply that the pupil effect for the visual-target condition was caused by a modality-specific link between pupil size modulation and the SC rather than by the LC-NE (locus coeruleus-norepinephrine) system. These results support the idea that different threshold mechanisms in the SC may be involved in the initiation of saccades toward visual and auditory targets.

Attentional disengagement is modulated by the offset of unpleasant pictures: a saccadic reaction time study

2013 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-353
Author(s):  
Walter Machado-Pinheiro ◽  
Aydamari Faria ◽  
Filipe Braga ◽  
Pedro Guerra ◽  
Pandelis Perakakis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Saccadic Reaction Time ◽  
Time Study ◽  
Attentional Disengagement ◽  
Reaction Time Study

No effect of attachment avoidance on visual disengagement from a romantic partner’s face

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 2166-2183
Author(s):  
Shayne Sanscartier ◽  
Jessica A. Maxwell ◽  
Penelope Lockwood
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Romantic Partner ◽  
Saccadic Reaction Time ◽  
Attachment Avoidance ◽  
Emotional Faces ◽  
Attachment Orientations ◽  
Romantic Attachments ◽  
Visual Disengagement

Attachment avoidance (discomfort with closeness and intimacy) has been inconsistently linked to visual disengagement from emotional faces, with some studies finding disengagement toward specific emotional faces and others finding no effects. Although most studies use stranger faces as stimuli, it is likely that attachment effects would be most pronounced in the context of attachment relationships. The present study ( N = 92) combined ecologically valid stimuli (i.e., pictures of romantic partner’s face) with eye-tracking methods to more precisely test whether highly avoidant individuals are faster at disengaging from emotional faces. Unexpectedly, attachment avoidance had no effect on saccadic reaction time, regardless of face type or emotion. Instead, all participants took longer to disengage from romantic partner faces than from strangers’ faces, although this effect should be replicated in the future. Our results suggest that romantic attachments capture visual attention on an oculomotor level, regardless of one’s personal attachment orientations.

scholarly journals Task-Irrelevant Features in Visual Working Memory Influence Covert Attention: Evidence from a Partial Report Task

Vision ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Foerster ◽  
Werner X. Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Visual Working Memory ◽  
Shape Matching ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Covert Attention ◽  
Partial Report ◽  
Target Color ◽  
Color Target ◽  
Irrelevant Color ◽  
Task Irrelevant

Selecting a target based on a representation in visual working memory (VWM) affords biasing covert attention towards objects with memory-matching features. Recently, we showed that even task-irrelevant features of a VWM template bias attention. Specifically, when participants had to saccade to a cued shape, distractors sharing the cue’s search-irrelevant color captured the eyes. While a saccade always aims at one target location, multiple locations can be attended covertly. Here, we investigated whether covert attention is captured similarly as the eyes. In our partial report task, each trial started with a shape-defined search cue, followed by a fixation cross. Next, two colored shapes, each including a letter, appeared left and right from fixation, followed by masks. The letter inside that shape matching the preceding cue had to be reported. In Experiment 1, either target, distractor, both, or no object matched the cue’s irrelevant color. Target-letter reports were most frequent in target-match trials and least frequent in distractor-match trials. Irrelevant cue and target color never matched in Experiment 2. Still, participants reported the distractor more often to the target’s disadvantage, when cue and distractor color matched. Thus, irrelevant features of a VWM template can influence covert attention in an involuntarily object-based manner when searching for trial-wise varying targets.

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