The effect of spatial structure on presaccadic attention costs and benefits assessed with dynamic 1/f noise

Hanning, Nina M. und Deubel, Heiner (2022): The effect of spatial structure on presaccadic attention costs and benefits assessed with dynamic 1/f noise. In: Journal of Neurophysiology, Bd. 127, Nr. 6: S. 1586-1592

Abstract

Already before the onset of a saccadic eye movement, we preferentially process visual information at the upcoming eye fixation. This presaccadic shift of attention is typically assessed via localized test items, which potentially bias the attention measurement. Here, we show how presaccadic attention shapes perception from saccade origin to target when no scene-structuring items are presented. Participants made saccades into a 1/f (pink) noise field, in which we embedded a brief orientation signal at various locations shortly before saccade onset. Local orientation discrimination performance served as a proxy for the allocation of attention. Results demonstrate that 1) the presaccadic attention shift is accompanied by considerable attentional costs at the presaccadic eye fixation and 2) saccades are preceded by shifts of attention to their goal location even if they are directed into an unstructured visual field, but the spread of attention, compared with target-directed saccades, is broad. We conclude that the absence or presence of saccade target objects markedly shapes the distribution of presaccadic attention and likely the underlying (space-based or object-based) cortical control mechanism. Our findings demonstrate the relevance of an item-free approach for measuring attentional dynamics across the visual field. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Using a new psychophysical paradigm, we show that, if the visual field is unstructured, the well-established attention shift preceding saccadic eye movements is far less focused on the movement goal than previously suggested based on conventional protocols, implying that attention is strongly shaped by scene-structuring elements. Moreover, it comes at a significant cost: Although visual sensitivity at the saccade target increases during eye-movement preparation, foveal perception (at the current center of gaze) is markedly deteriorated.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Psychologie und Pädagogik > Department Psychologie
• Themengebiete: 100 Philosophie und Psychologie > 150 Psychologie
• ISSN: 0022-3077
• Sprache: Englisch