Spatial anisotropy of saccadic latency in normal subjects and brain-damaged patients

In the present study, reaction time of oblique and orthogonal saccades was investigated in normal subjects and in two groups of patients with right (RBD) and left (LBD) vascular cerebral lesions and no signs of spatial neglect. Clear altitudinal effects were present in each group of subjects: saccadic latencies were longer in the lower than in the upper part of the visual field for both orthogonal and oblique saccades. Asymmetry along the horizontal meridian was present only in case of right hemisphere damage. This supports the view that a lesion in the right hemisphere causes a greater deficit of visual-spatial processing than a left hemisphere lesion. A cerebral lesion in the right and/or left hemisphere produces a general slowing in the saccadic latency and a general reduction in the accuracy of saccades with respect to normal subjects performance. Further, it seems that making saccades in oblique direction reduces the general saccade efficiency.