Top-down influences make saccades deviate away: the case of endogenous cues

We tested a recent hypothesis suggesting that the eye deviates away from a location when top-down preparation can influence target selection. Participants had to make an eye movement to a peripheral target. Before the upcoming target, a central cue indicated the likely target location. Results show that when the target was presented at a location different from that indicated by the cue, eye movements to the target deviated away from the cued location. Because central cues are under top-down control, the present results are in line with a determining role of top-down preparation on saccade direction. These results contrast with the findings reported in a similar paradigm executed with hand movements, in which the movements were mostly initiated in the direction of the cued location. Therefore, we conclude that inhibitory effects typically observed when executing eye movements may not be observed when executing hand movements in similar conditions.