Saccadic adaptation shifts the pre-saccadic attention focus

Abstract

The well-documented phenomenon of the spatial coupling between saccadic programming and the orienting of attention refers to the fact that visual attention is directed toward the location that the eyes are aiming for. However, the question remains open as to whether saccades and attention are two independent processes that can be directed concurrently toward a common goal, or whether their relationship is tighter, with the motor components of the saccade program influencing the selection of the position towards which visual attention is directed. To investigate this issue, an experiment was carried out in which the initial saccade goal was dissociated from the final executed motor vector. This was done by using a saccadic adaptation paradigm and a discrimination task. Results showed that best perceptual performance, which is taken to be an indicator of the locus of visual attention, followed the motor modifications arising from saccadic adaptation. This suggests that visual attention is directed toward the actual saccade landing position and that the perceptual system must have access to information regarding the motor vector before saccade execution.