Surprise, surprise: two distinct components in the visually evoked distractor effect.

Full Abstract

The distractor effect is an inhibition of saccades shortly after a sudden visual event. It has been explained both as an oculomotor reflex and as a manifestation of the orienting response. To clarify which explanation is more appropriate, we investigated a possible habituation of this effect. Visual and auditory distractors were presented at gaze-contingent intervals during the perception of meaningful pictures. Both reflexlike and modifiable components were present in the visual distractor effect, with latencies of about 110 and 180 ms, respectively. The influence of visual and auditory distractors on saccades preceded the earliest changes in cortical ERPs. Only for long-term habituation in the visual modality was a correlation with ERPs (N1) found.

Author information

Author/s: Graupner, Sven-Thomas (ST); Velichkovsky, Boris M (BM); Pannasch, Sebastian (S); Marx, Johannes (J);

Affiliation: Institute of Psychology III, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. graupner(-atsign-)psychomail.tu-dresden.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Psychophysiology (Psychophysiology), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Mar; vol 44 (issue 2) : pp 251-61

Dates: Created 2007/03/08; Completed 2007/05/29;

PMID: 17343709, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.