Exploratory saccades show no direction-specific deficit in neglect

In patients with spatial neglect, contralesional reflexive saccades toward suddenly appearing targets show direction-specific deficits. We examined whether these deficits also occur during free exploration of space. Neglect patients' voluntary eye movements showed reduced amplitudes for saccades in all directions but no direction-specific deficit. The results argue against an interpretation of spatial neglect as a general deficit to disengage attention or to program saccades in contralesional direction.