The temporal dynamics of the distractor in the global effect

In the global effect, saccades are displaced towards a distractor if the latter is near to the target, an effect thought to reflect spatial averaging in neurons of the superior colliculus. The temporal dynamics of the global effect have not been well studied, however. We had twelve subjects perform...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental brain research 2016-09, Vol.234 (9), p.2457-2463
Main Authors: Choi, Woo Young, Viswanathan, Jayalakshmi, Barton, Jason J. S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attention - physiology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Brain research
Eye movements
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neurology
Neurons - physiology
Neurosciences
Photic Stimulation - methods
Reaction Time - physiology
Research Article
Saccades (Eye movements)
Saccades - physiology
Stimulus salience
Superior Colliculi - physiology
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Summary:In the global effect, saccades are displaced towards a distractor if the latter is near to the target, an effect thought to reflect spatial averaging in neurons of the superior colliculus. The temporal dynamics of the global effect have not been well studied, however. We had twelve subjects perform horizontal saccades to a target in trials in which there were either no distractor or a distractor stimulus located 20° above or below the target. The distractor appeared either simultaneously with the target or preceded it by an interval of between 100 and 800 ms, and was either flashed for only 100 ms or remained visible until the subject responded with a saccade. Both flashed and persistent distractors reduced saccadic latency if they preceded target onset, indicating that subjects could use this cue to prepare saccades in advance. Saccadic endpoint was displaced towards a flashed distractor only if it was simultaneous with the target. However, persistent distractors produced a global effect for both simultaneous presentation and distractor–target intervals of 100 ms, but not for longer intervals. We conclude that the global effect requires of the distractor both a recent onset and persistence of the distractor, and that distractor-related activity decays rapidly within 300 ms.
ISSN:0014-4819
1432-1106
DOI:10.1007/s00221-016-4650-4