Change of reaction time according to the presentation of cues about the direction of saccade in a delayed saccade task

Abstract

AbstractThe preparation of saccade is examined on the basis of the reaction time in a delayed saccade task. The position of the visual stimulus presentation as the target of saccade is varied stochastically and then the signal indicating the start of the saccade is presented with a delay. In other words, a task is considered in which the direction of saccade is indicated before indicating the start of the saccade. We investigate how the preparation of the saccade progresses in the delay period following the indication of the direction. The following results were obtained in our experiments. (1) The reaction time decreases with increasing delay period. (2) The reaction time does not decrease but remains almost constant when the delay exceeds a certain value. (3) Even if the direction of saccade is known, the reaction time is decreased when the target is presented. As a conclusion, it is suggested that the saccade is prepared in the delay period based on the information concerning the saccade direction, since the reaction time decreases with increasing delay. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Comp Jpn, 35(8): 66–71, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/scj.10512