Abstract
We examined the allocation of attention during the preparation of sequences of saccades in a dual task paradigm. As a primary task, participants performed a sequence of two or three saccades to targets arranged on a circular array. The secondary task was a two-alternative discrimination in which a critical discrimination stimulus (digital “E” or “3”) was presented among distractors either at one of the saccade goals or at any other position. The findings show that discrimination performance is enhanced at all the saccade target locations of the planned sequence, while it is close to chance level at the positions that are not relevant for the saccade sequence. An analysis of the discrimination performance at the intermediate locations indicates that saccade target selection involves spatially distinct, non-contiguous foci of attention. Further, our findings demonstrate that the movement-relevant locations are selected in parallel rather than serially in time. We conclude that during the preparation of a saccade sequence––well before the actual execution of the eye movement––attention is allocated in parallel to each of the individual movement targets.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersen RA, Buneo CA (2002) Intentional maps in posterior parietal cortex. Ann Rev Neurosci 25:189–220
Andersen RA, Snyder LH, Bradley DC, Xing J (1997) Multimodal representation of space in the posterior parietal cortex and its use in planning movements. Ann Rev Neurosci 20:303–330
Allport DA (1987) Selection for action: some behavioral and neurophysiological considerations of attention and action. In: Heuer H, Sanders AF (eds) Perspectives on perception and action. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, pp. 395–419
Awh E, Armstrong KM, Moore T (2006) Visual and oculomotor selection: links, causes and implications for spatial attention. Trends Cogn Sci 10(3):124
Baldauf D, Wolf M, Deubel H (2006) Deployment of visual attention before sequences of goal-directed hand movements. Vision Res 46:4355–4374
Batista AP, Andersen RA (2001) The parietal reach region codes the next planned movement in a sequential reach task. J Neurophysiol 85:539–544
Bekkering H, Pratt J, Abrams RA (1996) The gap effect for eye and hand movements. Percept Psychophys 58:628–635
Bonfiglioli C, Castiello U (1998) Dissociation of covert and overt spatial attention during prehension movements: selective interference effects. Percept Psychophys 60(8):1426–1440
Bouma H (1970) Interaction effects in parafoveal letter recognition. Nature 226:177–178
Bouma H (1973) Visual interference in the parafoveal recognition of initial and final letters of words. Vision Res 13:767–782
Carrasco M, Penpeci-Talgar C, Eckstein M (2000) Spatial covert attention increases contrast sensitivity across the CSF: support for signal enhancement. Vision Res 40:1203–1215
Castiello U (1996) Grasping a fruit: selection for action. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 22:582–603
Cavanaugh J, Wurtz RH (2004) Subcortical modulation of attention counters change blindness. J Neurosci 24(50):11236–11243
Chelazzi L, Corbetta M (2000) Cortical mechanisms of visuospatial attention in the primate brain. In: Gazzaniga MS (ed) The new cognitive neuroscience. MIT, Cambridge pp. 667–686
Colby CL (1998) Action-oriented spatial reference frames in cortex. Neuron 20:15–24
Colby CL, Goldberg ME (1999) Space and attention in parietal cortex. Ann Rev Neurosci 22:319–349
Corbetta M, Miezin F, Shulman G, Peterson S (1991) Selective and divided attention during visual discriminations of shape, color and speed: functional anatomy by positron emission tomography. J Neurosci 11:2383–2402
Craighero L, Fadiga L, Rizzolatti G, Umilta C (1998) Visuomotor priming. Vis Cogn 5:109–125
Deubel H, Schneider WX (1996) Saccade target selection and object recognition: evidence for a common attentional mechanism. Vision Res 36:1827–1837
Deubel H, Schneider WX (2003) Delayed saccades, but not delayed manual aiming movements, require visual attention shifts. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1004:289–296
Deubel H, Schneider WX (2004) Attentional selection in sequential manual movements, movements around an obstacle and in grasping. In: Humphreys GW, Riddoch MJ (eds) Attention in action. Psychology, Hove
Deubel H, Schneider WX, Paprotta I (1998) Selective dorsal and ventral processing: evidence for a common attentional mechanism in reaching and perception. Vis Cogn 5:81–107
Eriksen CW, St. James JD (1986) Visual attention within and around focal attention: a zoom lens model. Percept Psychophys 40(4):225–240
Eriksen CW, Yeh YY (1985) Allocation of attention in the visual field. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 11:583–597
Fischer B, Weber H (1993) Express saccades and visual attention. Behav Brain Sci 16:588–589
Gersch TM, Kowler E, Dosher B (2004) Dynamic allocation of visual attention during the execution of sequences of saccades. Vision Res 44:1469–1483
Godijn R, Theeuwes J (2003) Parallel allocation of attention prior to the execution of saccade sequences. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform 29(5):882–896
Graziano MSA, Gross CG (1994) Mapping space with neurons. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 3:164–167
Hahn S, Kramer AF (1998) Further evidence for the division of attention among noncontiguous locations. Vis Cogn 5:217–256
Hayhoe M, Land M, Shrivastava A (1999) Coordination of eye and hand movements in a normal environment. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 40:S380
Hoffman JE, Subramaniam B (1995) The role of visual attention in saccadic eye movements. Percept Psychophys 57:787–795
Ihaka R, Gentleman R (1996) R: a language for data analysis and graphics. J Comput Graph Stat 5:299–314
Intriligator J, Cavanagh P (2001) The spatial resolution of visual attention. Cogn Psychol 43:171–216
Kettner RE, Marcario JK, Port NI (1996) Control of remembered reaching sequences in monkey II. Storage and preparation before movement in motor and premotor cortex. Exp Brain Res 112:317–358
Konen CS, Kleiser R, Wittsack HJ, Bremmer F, Seitz RJ (2004) The encoding of saccadic eye movements within human posterior parietal cortex. Neuroimage 22:304–314
Kowler E, Anderson E, Dosher B, Blaser E (1995) The role of attention in the programming of saccades. Vis Res 35:1897–1916
Kramer AF, Hahn S (1995) Splitting the beam: distribution of attention over noncontiguous regions of the visual field. Psychol Sci 6:381–386
Kritikos A, Bennett KMB, Dunai J, Castiello U (2000) Interference from distractors in reach-to-grasp movements. Q J Exp Psychol 53:131–151 49
Krose B, Julesz B (1989) The control and speed of shifts in attention. Vis Res 29:1607–1619
Land MF, Mennie N, Rusted J (1999) Eye movements and the roles of vision in activities of daily living: making a cup of tea. Perception 28:1311–1328
LaBerge D, Brown V (1989) Theory of attentional operation in shape identification. Psychol Rev 96:101–124
Logan GD (2005) The time it takes to switch attention. Psychon Bull Rev 12(4):647–653
Mackeben M, Nakayama K (1993) Express attentional shifts. Vis Res 33(1):85–90
Madden D (1992) Selective attention and visual search: revision of an allocation model and application to age differences. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Psychophys 18:821–836
Mazzoni P, Bracewell RM, Barash S, Andersen RA (1996) Motor intention activity in the macaque’s lateral intraparietal area. I. Dissociation of motor plan from sensory memory. J Neurophysiol 76(3):1439–1456
Medendorp WP, Goltz HC, Vilis T (2006) Directional selectivity of BOLD activity in human posterior parietal cortex for memory-guided double-step saccades. J Neurophysiol 95:1645–1655
Moore T, Armstrong KM (2003) Selective gating of visual signals by microstimulation of frontal cortex. Nature 421:370
Moore T, Fallah M (2004) Microstimulation of the frontal eye field and its effects on covert spatial attention. J Neurophysiol 91:152–162
Moore T, Fallah M (2001) Control of eye movements and spatial attention. Proc Nat Acad Sci 98(3):1273–1276
Mushiake H, Saito N, Sakamoto K, Itoyama Y, Tanji J (2006) Activity in the lateral prefrontal cortex reflects multiple steps of future events in action plans. Neuron 50:631–641
Neumann O (1987) Beyond capacity: a functional view of attention. In: Heuer H, Sanders AF (eds) Perspectives on perception and action. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp. 361–394
Posner MI (1980) Orienting of attention. Q J Exp Psychol 32:3–25
Rizzolatti G, Riggio L, Sheliga BM (1994) Space and selective attention. In: Umilta C, Moscovitch M (eds) Attention and performance XV. Conscious and nonconscious information processing. MIT, Cambridge, pp. 231–265
Schiegg A, Deubel H, Schneider WX (2003) Attentional selection during preparation of prehension movements. Vis Cogn 10(4):409
Schneider WX (1995) VAM: a neuro-cognitive model for attention control of segmentation, object recognition and space-based motor action. Vis Cogn 2:331–374
Schneider WX, Deubel H (2002) Selection-for-perception and selection-for-spatial motor-action are coupled by visual attention: a review of recent findings and new evidence from stimulus-driven saccade control. In: Prinz W, Hommel B (eds) Attention and performance XIX: common mechanisms in perception and action. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 609–627
Snyder LH, Batista AP, Andersen RA (1997) Coding of intention on the posterior parietal cortex. Nature 386:167–170
Snyder LH, Batista AP, Andersen RA (2000) Intention-related activity in the posterior parietal cortex. Vision Res 40:1433–1441
Treisman A, Gelade G (1980) A feature–integration theory of attention. Cogn Psychol 12(1):97–136
Wardak C, Ibos G, Duhamel J, Olivier E (2006) Contribution of the monkey frontal eye field to covert visual attention. J Neurosci 26(16):4228–4235
Ward R, Duncan J, Shapiro K (1996) The slow time course of visual attention. Cogn Psychol 30:79–109
Wolf W, Deubel H (1997) P31 phosphor persistence at phototopic luminance level. Spat Vis 4:323–333
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Graduate Program GRK 1091 to DB and Research Group De 336/2 to HD) and by the Cluster of Excellence “Cognition for Technical Systems”.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baldauf, D., Deubel, H. Properties of attentional selection during the preparation of sequential saccades. Exp Brain Res 184, 411–425 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-007-1114-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-007-1114-x