Microsaccade dynamics in the attentional repulsion effect

Abstract

A briefly flashed peripheral cue has been shown to repulse the perceived position of a subsequently presented foveal probe - a bias called the Attentional Repulsion Effect (ARE). While this bias has originally been assumed to reflect attentional capturing by the cue, its attentional nature has recently been questioned. To investigate the ARE’s attentional properties, we recorded microsaccades as an attentional marker in the ARE paradigm. Microsaccades, small fixational eye movements performed during fixation, have previously been described to reflect the dynamics of spatial attention deployment. Our results favor an attentional explanation for the ARE: In trials in which an ARE was found, microsaccades were directed more often toward the cue, presumably reflecting the covert shift of attention. In contrast, more cue-incongruent microsaccades were observed in trials in which no ARE was found. Therefore, both repulsion as well as measured microsaccade modulations, are most likely an outcome of the preceding shifts of covert attention.