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Updated: Jun 4, 2026
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Published on: March 18, 2019
Learned statistical regularity modulates anticipatory micro-saccades toward suppressed distractor locations
Sirui Chen1,2, Xin Zhang3, Xinyu Li3
1Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for Psychiatric Disorders, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Psychiatric Disorders, Guangdong Basic Research Center of Excellence for Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine for Qingzhi Diseases, Department of Neurobiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
Learned statistical regularities help suppress distractors. This study shows that anticipatory eye movements, specifically micro-saccades, indicate a reactive suppression mechanism is at play, guided by learned spatial patterns.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
- Oculomotor Control
Background:
- Individuals can learn to suppress distractor locations based on statistical regularities.
- The underlying neural and oculomotor mechanisms of this learned suppression are not fully understood.
- Proactive and reactive accounts offer competing explanations for suppression mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanisms of learned suppression of distractor locations.
- To differentiate between proactive and reactive accounts of suppression using oculomotor and neural measures.
- To examine the role of micro-saccades and electroencephalogram (EEG) in encoding spatial regularities.
Main Methods:
- Recorded micro-saccades and EEG during a visual search task.
- Participants learned to ignore a salient distractor at a high-probability location.
- Analyzed micro-saccade direction and rate, and alpha-band EEG activity.
Main Results:
- Reduced micro-saccade rates were observed before stimulus onset in the high-probability condition.
- Anticipatory micro-saccades were more frequently directed toward high-probability distractor locations.
- Alpha-band EEG activity showed decodable representations of high-probability distractor locations.
Conclusions:
- Findings support a reactive suppression mechanism involving covert attention to distractor locations.
- The oculomotor system plays a crucial role in encoding and responding to learned spatial regularities.
- Preparatory neural tuning, indicated by alpha-band activity, accompanies oculomotor adjustments.
