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Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
Published on: March 18, 2019
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Is covert attention necessary for programming accurate saccades? Evidence from saccade-locked event-related
Travis N Talcott1, John E Kiat2, Steven J Luck2
1Department of Psychology, Binghamton University, State University of New York, P.O. Box 6000, Binghamton, NY, 13902-6000, USA. ttalcot1@binghamton.edu.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|August 23, 2023
Summary
Covert attention shifts, measured by the N2pc component, do not always precede eye movements. This neural marker is not essential for accurate gaze control, challenging long-held assumptions in attention research.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Attention Research
Background:
- Traditional models posit that covert attention must precede eye movements for enhanced perception.
- Recent findings question the mandatory nature of this attentional presaccadic shift.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if the N2pc component (neural marker of covert attention) mandatorily precedes eye movements.
- To assess the role of the presaccadic N2pc in gaze control accuracy.
Main Methods:
- Coregistration of electroencephalography (EEG) and eye movements during a visual search task.
- Analysis of the N2pc component's timing relative to saccades.
- Exploration of ERP decoding for presaccadic target identification.
Main Results:
- The presaccadic N2pc was observed only under specific conditions (high target load and distractors).
- No correlation was found between the presaccadic N2pc and eye movement accuracy.
- ERP decoding identified target location presaccadically, distinct from N2pc activity.
Conclusions:
- The covert attentional mechanism indexed by N2pc is not mandatory for precise gaze control.
- Presaccadic cognitive processes distinct from N2pc contribute to accurate eye movements.
