Asymmetries in attention as revealed by fixations and saccades

Nicole Thomas, Tobias Loetscher, Michael Nicholls

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    8 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Neurologically normal individuals devote more attention to the left side; an asymmetry known as pseudoneglect, which reflects right hemisphere involvement in visuospatial attention. The role of eye movements in attentional asymmetries has received little consideration, particularly in terms of the greyscales task. Stimulus length, elevation, and presentation duration were manipulated, while monitoring eye movements during the greyscales task. Region of interest analyses compared time spent examining each quadrant of the stimulus. Further, saccades were examined in conjunction with fixations to gain an understanding of overall eye movement patterns. Scatterplots combining x-and y-coordinates illustrate mean eye position. Results demonstrated a comparison strategy was used, where the dark portions of each rectangle were fixated. Mean eye position was within the lower left quadrant. The left visual field was inspected most for the baseline condition. Interestingly, the lower visual field was examined most when duration, length, or elevation was manipulated. Eye movement patterns provide a possible explanation for why correlations are y not observed between visuospatial tasks. Different strategies, based on specific-task demands, are likely to be used, which in turn, engage separate aspects of visuospatial attention.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)3253-3267
    Number of pages15
    JournalExperimental Brain Research
    Volume232
    Issue number10
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 19 Sept 2014

    Keywords

    • Eye tracking
    • Greyscales task
    • Laterality
    • Mean eye position
    • Pseudoneglect
    • Visual field differences

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