Visual Attention (Psychology)

As media usage continues to increase on a global scale, fueled by the proliferation of mobile devices, this facilitates the effortless behavior of mediamultitasking. This paradigm shift in the way in which media is consumed presents fundamental challenges for the domains of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), education, psychology, and commerce. This technological shift introduces a new dimension that is needed when attempting to understand user interaction related to both the devices themselves andthe digital platforms accessed. This study begins a process of developing an understanding of cross-cultural media multitasking habits through a survey of a large group of experimental participants. In this study, participants from two different countries were surveyed. The countries used in this study were the USA and Portugal. This research provides valuable insights into theincreasingly common phenomenon of media multitasking and the similarities and differences between cultures when users are engaging in this activity. This study contributes to previous research in the realm of media multitasking by expanding on foundational knowledge on a global scale setting the stage for more detailed research on predictors, outcomes, and habits of global media multitasking.

This paper presents an overview of the key neuroscience studies investigating the neural mechanisms of self-initiated movements that form the basis of our human consciousness. These studies, which commenced with the seminal works of Benjamin Libet and colleagues, showed that an ensemble of brain areas — localized to the frontal and medial regions of the brain — are involved in engendering the conscious decision to commit a motor act. Regardless of differences in neuroimaging techniques, these studies commonly showed that early neuronal activities in the frontal lobules and supplementary motor areas, interpreted by some to be reflective of unconscious processes, occurred before one was conscious of the intention to act as well as the act itself. I examine and discuss these empirical findings with regard to the need to analyze the contents and stages of awareness, and devise paradigm-specific models or theories that could account for inconsistent findings garnered from different experimental paradigms. This paper concludes by emphasizing a need to reconcile the principles of determinism with the notions of free will in future development of consciousness research and theories. © The Institute of Mind and Behavior, Inc., P.O. Box 522, Village Station, New York City, New York, 10014. URL: https://umaine.edu/jmb/

Des déficits attentionnels peuvent perturber la lecture et participent aux difficultés rencontrées par certains enfants dyslexiques. Les procédures de lecture par adressage et par assemblage sont vulnérables à ces déficits, notamment parce qu'ils entravent des opérations cognitives en amont de ces deux voies, empêchant le groupement lettres/mot, l'identification des lettres et le codage de leur position. Des déficits de groupement visuel, une hyper-sensibilité au masquage latéral et un déséquilibre du traitement global/local seront évoqués. Pour un diagnostic des perturbations du traitement global /local, les résultats d'une expérience conduite avec le test SIGL©, évaluant les capacités à traiter spontanément la configuration d'un objet visuel complexe et à inhiber ses détails, sont rapportés pour décrire le développement de ces compétences entre 6 et 11 ans. Une expérience évaluant ensuite un programme d'entraînement informatisé (SWITCHIPIDO ©) destiné à réduire les déficits de ces deux mécanismes est aussi présentée. Il permet de rétablir un meilleur équilibre entre les traitements global et local et permet des progrès en lecture. Les résultats d'une expérience chez des étudiants dyslexiques montrent par ailleurs que certains déficits évalués par SIGL persistent à l'âge adulte. Les corrélations avec un bilan orthophonique et neuropsychologique suggèrent comment ils affectent la lecture. Les hypothèses concernant des anomalies de l'attention temporelle sont aussi présentées, dans un cadre théorique combinant les oscillations cérébrales et le rythme de distribution de l'attention. Cela conduit à évoquer des travaux réalisés à partir d'un matériel musical et permettant, à travers le traitement du rythme, d'améliorer l'analyse de l'information linguistique en perception de la parole mais aussi, comme contribuent à le montrer nos résultats récents, en lecture. Les déficits d'attention spatiale et temporelle seront enfin dissociés des difficultés attentionnelles du TDAH, parfois associé à la dyslexie, mais impliquant des mécanismes attentionnels d'un autre ordre, pour lesquels des prises en charges novatrices sont enfin évoquées.

Binaural beats have been hypothesized as a potential tool for creating cognitive
stimulation for over a hundred years (Peterson, J. 1916). When two slightly different tones are
played simultaneously in each our brains synchronize the two into one tone. The resulting tone
can stimulate certain brain areas and either increase or decrease their functioning. The objective
of this research was to determine the overall efficacy, lasting effect, and dosage needed of
binaural beats stimulation for the purposes of increasing focus and working memory. A
systematic review was conducted using the PRISMA method, where 23 peer-reviewed studies
were examined relating to binaural beats stimulation specifically for the purposes of assessing
attention and memory networks. Forty Hertz binaural beats are the most effective for increasing
focus and attention, however the methodology applied is significantly connected with results,
where the minimum dosage needs to be at least nine minutes. Further, longer exposure correlates
with an increased effect. Carrier tones should be played at a frequency that is comfortable and
perceivable (90 and 440 Hz). Timing of binaural beats stimulation should be applied either
before or before and during any proposed cognitive task. Playing binaural beats stimulation
during the cognitive task alone may index their effect. Because this is a novel topic, deductive
reasoning was applied to render results. Future studies should examine the topic of dosage and
lasting effect concerning binaural beats stimulation to access the full breadth of their
effectiveness on attention and working memory networks.

ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed childhood 'mental disorder'. A process description of attention is presented, and attention 'deficit' (ADD) is explored in terms of psychological aspects: stimulation, motivation, distraction, emotion, daydreaming, intrusive thoughts, and worry. Not all disruption of attention is dysfunctional. Dysregulation of attention is considered in terms of brain function. Use of medication for ADHD is discussed. Categories of ADD are proposed. Intrinsic and extrinsic factors contributing to the appearance of ADHD symptoms are listed.

This study examined the notion that visually fixating at a stimulus can help prevent change blindness from occurring and looks at change blindness blindness, a common metacognitive error shown by participants. 77 participants were randomly selected and assigned to different conditions. Experimental group had an extra task that they had to perform while attending to the video and the control group only had to watch the video. Participants in both conditions were required to fill out a questionnaire measuring their confidence levels to notice the change. Both conditions failed to detect changes with insignificant difference between the groups, even though the stimulus was visually fixated. Most participants overestimated their change detecting abilities, predicting in the questionnaire that they would notice the change, while in practice they did not. Thus an extra task in the experimental condition did not produce a cognitive overload leading to change blindness. Still participants failed to detect changes when the stimulus was fixated and failed to measure their change detecting abilities realistically.

Twelve children with developmental dyslexia underwent a four-month treatment with tachistoscopic presentation of words, according to Bakker’s methodology. One group received standard lateral presentation of words on a PC screen, while the other group received the same stimuli in random lateral position. The spatial distribution of visual attention was measured by means of the Form-Resolving Field (FRF; Geiger, Lettvin, & Zegarra-Moran, 1992), which was administered along with reading tests, before and after treatment. The FRF of children who received random presentation widened at −12.5° on the left side, while the FRF in the group that received standard lateral presentation narrowed at that position. Both groups significantly improved in reading accuracy for both words and nonwords. Some hypotheses are proposed concerning the mechanisms responsible for the changes in the FRF and their correlation with improvements in word and nonword reading. The results of the present study are also compared with data suggesting a left “minineglect” in dyslexia.

"Objective. Failure to identify fractures is the most common error in Accident and Emergency departments. Therefore, the current research aimed to understand more about the processes underlying perceptual expertise when interpreting skeletal radiographs.

Materials and methods. Thirty participants, consisting of 10 novices, 10 intermediates and 10 experts were presented with 10 clinical cases of normal and abnormal skeletal radiographs of varying difficulty (obvious or subtle) whilst wearing eye tracking equipment.

Results. Experts were significantly more accurate, more confident and faster in their diagnoses than intermediates or novices and this performance advantage was more pronounced for the subtle cases. Experts were also faster to fixate the site of the fracture and spent more relative time fixating the fracture than intermediates or novices and this was again most pronounced for subtle cases. Finally a multiple linear regression analysis found that time to fixate the fracture was inversely related to diagnostic accuracy and explained 34% of the variance in this variable.

Conclusions. The results suggest that the performance advantage of expert radiologists is underpinned by superior pattern recognition skills, as evidenced by a quicker time to first fixate the pathology, and less time spent searching the image."

Статья посвящена возможностям применения методов регистрации движений глаз (айтрекинга) в ходе психологической подготовки футболистов.
Рассматриваются психологическая специфика футбола, профессионально важные качества спортсменов-футболистов. Приведены примеры исследований
движений глаз футболистов в процессе выполнения спортивно-специфических задач: при реализации пенальти, в ситуациях обыгрывания противника, при
принятии решений и др. В настоящем исследовании приняли участие 23 игрока профессиональной футбольной лиги (их средний возраст = 21,56±1,5 лет). В целях изучения паттернов глазодвигательной активности, участвующих в реализации технических действий (дриблинге, ударам по воротам), был проведен эксперимент с использованием
технологий айтрекинга (в работе использовался мобильный айтрекер «ETG SMI»). Футболистам было необходимо пробежать дистанцию с мячом, а после этого –
выполнить удар в определенную зону ворот. Все спортсмены сделали необходимую разминку перед началом тестирования.
В результате эксперимента было установлено, что точность удара по воротам и техничность дриблинга тесно связаны со средней длительностью фиксаций взора во время движения. Это, в целом, согласуется с результатами аналогичных ранее проведенных исследований в других видах спорта, реализованных преимущественно в лабораторных условиях, а также в закрытых помещениях. Кроме того, были проанализированы качественные параметры глазодвигательной активности игроков на различных этапах выполнения тестового упражнения, в результате чего выявлены характеристики эффективных и неэффективных зрительных стратегий футболистов.
Ключевые слова: айтрекинг, направление взора, психология спорта, футбол, психологическая подготовка в футболе.
The research describes the possibility of applying eye tracking in football. A total of 23 male professional football players from Russia participated in research (Mean age = 21,56; SD=1,5 y.o.). Experiment was conducted in natural settings on football field. All athletes had an appropriate warm-up before testing. All
participants had normal vision. Participants’ eye movement data during dribbling task were recorded via mobile eye tracker – “Eye Tracking Glasses» (SensoMotoric Instuments).
We identify the most effective components of visual strategies during different stages of dribbling task: in pre-start routine, during dribbling, after kicking the ball into the goal. Focus of visual attention in pre-start routine: effective gaze patterns connected to the short preview of direction of future movements, gaze fixation to the particular zone of the goal. Effective gaze behavior in dribbling linked with anticipation in gaze focus (a combination of anticipatory and regressive saccades).
The most effective gaze patterns in period after kicking the ball into the goal: post-analysis of the kick, fixations on goalkeeper actions. In addition, we find out that fixation duration during dribbling positively correlates to the shooting accuracy and efficacy of dribbling technique. These findings indicates that applying eye tracking technologies in sport practice could enhance performance of football players such as dribbling technique and  and shooting accuracy. Especially, via eye tracking tools scientists can investigate important issues like development of technique, sport attention, reaction time and anticipation.

This paper accomplishes two tasks. First, I unpack Husserl's analysis of interest from his 1893 manuscript, "Notes Towards a Theory of Attention and Interest" to demonstrate that it comprises his first rigorous genetic analysis of attention. Specifically, I explore Husserl's observations about how attentive interest is passively guided by affections, moods, habits, and cognitive tensions. In doing so, I reveal that the early Husserl described attention as always pulled forward to new discoveries via the rhythmic recurrence of tension and pleasure. Second, I demonstrate that "Notes" is the germ of Husserl's mature genetic phenomenology of attention. The 1893 analysis provides Husserl with all of the philosophical reasons and tools for the construction of his genetic account of attention in his late works. I then discuss how the disclosure of this novel subterranean link can prompt a rethinking of the development of phenomenology.

This chapter describes the processes involved in attention to warnings. Attention has two stages. One is the capture or switch stage in which the warning must capture attention by standing out from other stimuli in cluttered and noisy environments. Attention is more likely to be drawn to a warning if it has features that enhance its conspicuousness. The second stage, maintenance, holds attention while and until information from the warning is extracted. Features such as legibility and intelligibility are involved. Recommendations for research and application are presented.

Dujmović, M. & Valerjev, P. (2018). A person, a dog, and a vase: The effect of avatar type in a perspective-taking task. In K. Damnjanović, I. Stepanović Ilić, & S. Marković (Eds.), Proceedings of the 24th Scientific Conference Empirical Studies In Psychology (pp. 89-91). Belgrade: Institute of Psychology, Laboratory for Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.

Abstract
Recent research has shown people process what another person sees even when not explicitly taking the other person perspective. Results show people are slower in their responses when a different number of stimuli can be seen from one's own and the avatar's (other) perspective. In these incongruent trials, the avatar's perspective interferes with the response about one's own perspective and vice versa. However, a question remains whether this is purely a consequence of perceptual cueing or if social information contributes to the effect. The goal of our study was to investigate differences in automatic processing depending on avatar type. The experiment was a 2 (perspective) × 2 (congruence) × 2 (avatar type) repeated measures design. Participants were significantly slower for incongruent trials and from the other's perspective. Additionally, perspective by avatar type interaction was significant. Participants were slower from the other's perspective only for human avatars, but not when the avatar was a dog. These results may imply additional time is required to take the perspective of a human being while the perspective of a dog represents a perceptive cue rather than requiring that additional step. We may conclude both perceptual and social information may contribute to perspective taking.

OBJECTIVE:

Adults diagnosed with attentional deficit disorder (ADHD) are easily distracted in many tasks. Yet ADHD performance on inattentional blindness (IB) tasks has not been examined. Such investigation may aid in discriminating between 3 ADHD models: the neurological model, the perceptual load theory, and the "hunter versus farmer" hypothesis.
METHOD:

Distractibility was assessed in ADHD and non-ADHD college students using the MOXO task that involves detection of a single attended stimulus that repeatedly appears in the same place and in the well-known IB "gorilla" video which involves tracking of a stimulus moving at a fast pace in a dynamic, complex manner.
RESULTS:

ADHD college students showed increased distractibility in the MOXO task. By contrast, they performed better than controls in the attended channel of the IB task, while they were also better at noticing the unattended stimuli and thus exhibiting little-to-no inattentional blindness.
CONCLUSIONS:

As no attentional tradeoffs were evident in the IB task, it appears that the results are most consistent with the "hunter versus farmer" hypothesis, which postulates that ADHD individuals have an alternative cognitive style which is less equipped to deal with detection of repeated stimuli while comprising advantages in the tracking of stimuli moving in a fast dynamic manner.

The selective nature of visual attention prioritizes objects in a scene that are most perceptually salient, those relevant to personal goals, and animate objects. Here we present data from two intentional change detection studies designed to determine the extent to which animals in a scene distract from other changes. Our stimuli depicted camouflaged animals in their natural habitats. We compared participants' responses to changing animals and inanimate objects selected from the same pictures, thus improving on other methodologies studying this effect. Experiment 1 results suggest that animals are noticed rapidly and accurately, even when they share bottom-up features with the rest of the scene. Additionally, the unchanging presence of camouflaged animals distract from detecting inanimate changes. Experiment 2 employed signal detection theory (SDT) to measure the sensitivity (d′) and response bias (β) related to changing animate versus inanimate stimuli. Experiment 2 outcomes indicate that participants tend to adopt a liberal response bias and are most sensitive to animate changes. Presence of an animal in a scene also influences sensitivity (d′) when participants had to attend to and notice inanimate changes. Our findings are interpreted as additional support for the animate-monitoring hypothesis which suggests that early detection of animacy may have endowed our hunter-gather ancestors with survival advantages.

We investigated visual attentional biases towards self-made artworks. Self-made objects tend to be favoured, remembered, valued, and ranked above and beyond objects that are not related to the self. On this basis, we set out to test whether the effects of self-relevance would apply to visual art, and via what mechanisms. In three studies, participants created abstract paintings which were then incorporated in a dot-probe task, pairing self-made and other-made stimuli. Our findings confirm that attention and preference are higher for self-made (vs. other-made) artworks. Furthermore, we show that visual attention assessed by a dot-probe task constitutes a reliable measure of preference for art.

A fundamental issue in visual attention is the relationship between the useful field of view (UFOV), the region of visual space where information is encoded within a single fixation, and eccentricity. A common assumption is that impairing attentional resources reduces the size of the UFOV (i.e., tunnel vision). However, most research has not accounted for eccentricity-dependent changes in spatial resolution, potentially conflating fixed visual properties with flexible changes in visual attention. Williams (1988, 1989) argued that foveal loads are necessary to reduce the size of the UFOV, producing tunnel vision.Without a foveal load, it is argued that the attentional decrement is constant across the visual field (i.e., general interference). However, other research asserts that auditory working memory (WM) loads produce tunnel vision. To date, foveal versus auditory WM loads have not been compared to determine if they differentially change the size of the UFOV. In two experiments, we tested the effects of a foveal (rotated L vs. T discrimination) task and an auditory WM (N-back) task on an extrafoveal (Gabor) discrimination task. Gabor patches were scaled for size and processing time to produce equal performance across the visual field under single-task conditions, thus removing the confound of eccentricity-dependent differences in visual sensitivity. The results showed that although both foveal and auditory loads reduced Gabor orientation sensitivity, only the foveal load interacted with retinal eccentricity to produce tunnel vision, clearly demonstrating task-specific changes to the form of the UFOV. This has theoretical implications for understanding the UFOV.

Object substitution masking (OSM) is said to occur when a perceptual object is hypothesised that is mismatched by subsequent sensory evidence, leading to a new hypothesised object being substituted for the first.  An example is when a brief target is accompanied by a longer lasting display of non-overlapping mask elements, and reporting of target features is impaired. Enns & DiLollo (2000) considered it an outstanding question whether OSM masks some or all aspects of a target.  We report three experiments demonstrating that OSM can selectively affect target features.  Participants may be able to detect a target while being unable to report other aspects of it, or to report the colour but not the orientation of a target (or vice-versa).  We discuss these findings in relation to two other visual phenomena.

La movilización de la atención a partir de estímulos que se presentan de manera inesperada (Claves orientación) produce tres resultados comunes: 1) Si la clave indica alguna posición espacial donde se presentará un estímulo, la respuesta posterior se facilita; 2) Si la clave indica una posición espacial donde no ocurrirá el estímulo la respuesta posterior se interfiere; 3) Posiciones atendidas previamente son inhibidas lo que genera mayores tiempos de respuesta (TR), fenómeno que se denomina inhibición de Retorno (IDR). Para comprobar estos supuestos, se llevó a cabo un experimento Utilizando una tarea declaves de orientación. Se empleó un diseño factorial 2x2, con las variables localización espacial de la clave (Central o Periférica) y relación de la clave con el posterior estímulo (Válida o Inválida). Participaron 80 estudiantes de licenciatura de con una edad promedio de 19.2 años. En la tarea el participante debía emitir una respuesta ante un cuadrado de color verde e inhibir su respuesta ante un cuadrado de color amarillo, éstos podían aparecer en dos posiciones espaciales. Antes de aparecer cualquiera de los dos estímulos se presentaba una clave de orientación, que varió sus características según el tratamiento asignado; adicionalmente se incluyó un bloque de  ensayos consecutivos para medir IDR. Se registró el TR cómo variable dependiente. Los resultados lograron replicar los efectos de facilitación e interferencia; para corroborar esta diferencia se llevó a cabo una ANOVA de 2 vías que arrojó diferencias significativas para la variable relación de la clave, pero no para la localización espacial de ésta ni para la interacción entre la localización y la relación; sin embargo esta prueba violó el supuesto de normalidad. El bloque de ensayos consecutivos logró obtener IDR sólo en el tratamiento Periférica-Inválida, en los demás tratamientos se obtuvo facilitación de retorno. Adicionalmente se grafico la distribución de frecuencias de los tratamientos, las cuales mostraron una sobreposición una con la otra. A partir de lo observado se concluye que los efectos de facilitación e inhibición podrían deberse al control de laboratorio más que al funcionamiento diferencial del mecanismo de orientación.

Planned and reflexive behaviors often occur in the presence of emotional stimuli and within the context of an individual’s acute emotional state. Therefore, determining the manner in which emotion and attention interact is an important step toward understanding how we function in the real world. Participants in the current investigation viewed centrally displayed, task-irrelevant, face distractors (angry, neutral, happy) while performing a lateralized go/no-go continuous performance task. Lateralized go targets and no-go lures that did not spatially overlap with the faces were employed to differentially probe processing in the left (LH) and right (RH) cerebral hemispheres. There was a significant interaction between expression and hemisphere, with an overall pattern such that angry distractors were associated with relatively more RH inhibitory errors than neutral or happy distractors and happy distractors with relatively more LH inhibitory errors than angry or neutral distractors. Simple effects analyses confirmed that angry faces differentially interfered with RH relative to LH inhibition and with inhibition in the RH relative to happy faces. A significant three-way interaction further revealed that state anxiety moderated relations between emotional expression and hemisphere. Under conditions of low cognitive load, more intense anxiety was associated with relatively greater RH than LH impairment in the presence of both happy and threatening distractors. By contrast, under high load, only angry distractors produced greater RH than LH interference as a function of anxiety.

What is it like to perceive a feared object? According to a popular neo-Gibsonian theory in psychology, fear biases our perceptions of objects so as to encourage particular kinds of actions: when we are afraid, spiders may be perceived as physically closer than they are in order to promote fleeing. Firestone mounted severe criticisms against this view, arguing that these cases are better explained by non-perceptual biases that operate on accurate perceptions of the external environment. In this paper I will argue that fear might indeed distort our perceptions of the world, but not in the way neo-Gibsonians suppose. In the view I favor, perceptual distortions occur as by-products of fearful attention, a special mode of attention that is part of an orchestrated defensive response that prepares the organism to deal effectively with a threat. To argue for this view I will rely on empirical evidence that fearful attention narrows down the focus of attention and favors processing of local rather than global features of stimuli, which may jointly explain why perceptual distortions might occur in fearful object seeing. This view has consequences not only for empirical investigations in fearful perceptual distortions, but also for an explanation of the intentionality of fear and the phenomenal integration of bodily and intentional elements in fear episodes.

This chapter describes the two major process stages of attention. The first involves switching attention to a salient stimulus. The second involves maintaining attention-while information is encoded in memory. This chapter focuses on factors that affect both stages with respect to visual and auditory warnings. Examples are provided and recommendations for future research are given.

We examined if there is any intrinsically “hard-wired” tendency in the subject’s Visual Attention. When asked to spontaneously decide preferences for shape or grouping of shapes, distinct patterns of preference in human test
subjects were found. These preferences were consistent among ages older than 20 years adulthood and both genders. These findings could result in broad practical applications ranging from interface designs to visual alerts.

Affective and cognitive factors play an important role in the activation and regulation of men’s sexual arousal. Barlow (1986) argued that initial affective reactions determine the allocation of attention to sexual stimuli. We applied Barlow’s model to our understanding of the role of sexual arousal in sexual orientation, where sexual arousal patterns have consistently been found to be congruent with self-reported orientation in men, but not in women. Visual attention of 28 heterosexual and 22 homosexual men to same- and opposite-sex erotic stimuli was assessed and experimentally-directed by means of a newly developed software application, while genital (penile rigidity) and affective responses (self-reported and physiological) were measured. In line with previous research, we found “category specificity” in men’s sexual arousal, in that sexual responses were strongest to orientation-congruent stimuli. Also, both homosexual and heterosexual men experienced stronger sexual responses to conditions in which their attention was directed to sexual versus nonsexual content of orientation-congruent stimuli. Only homosexual men manifested higher sexual responses when their visual attention was directed towards the sexual content of orientation-incongruent stimuli. Heterosexual men experienced weaker positive and stronger negative affective responses to orientation-incongruent content, suggestive of potential avoidance or inhibitory mechanisms.

Studies on prospective memory (PM) predominantly assess either event- or time-based PM by implementing non-ecological laboratory-based tasks. The results deriving from these paradigms have provided findings that are discrepant with ecologically valid research paradigms that converge on the complexity and cognitive demands of everyday tasks. The Virtual Reality Everyday Assessment Lab (VR-EAL), an immersive virtual reality (VR) neuropsychological battery with enhanced ecological validity, was implemented to assess everyday event- and time-based PM, as well as the influence of other cognitive functions on everyday PM functioning. The results demonstrated the importance of delayed recognition, planning, and visuospatial attention on everyday PM. Delayed recognition and planning ability were found to be central in event- and time-based PM respectively. In order of importance, delayed recognition, visuospatial attention speed, and planning ability were found to be involved in event-based PM functioning. Comparably, planning, visuospatial attention accuracy, delayed recognition, and multitasking/task-shifting ability were found to be involved in time-based PM functioning. These findings further suggest the importance of ecological validity in the study of PM, which may be achieved using immersive VR paradigms.

Covert shifts of visuospatial attention are traditionally assumed to occur in the absence of oculomotor behavior.
In contrast, recent behavioral studies have linked attentional cueing effects to the occurrence of microsaccades,
small eyemovements executed involuntarily during attempted fixation. Here we used a new type of electrophysiological
marker to explore the attention–microsaccade relationship, the visual brain activity evoked by the
microsaccade itself. By shifting the retinal image, microsaccades frequently elicit neural responses throughout
the visual pathway, scalp-recordable in the human EEG as a microsaccade-related potential (mSRP). Although
mSRPs contain similar signal components (P1/N1) as traditional visually-evoked potentials (VEPs), it is unknown
whether they are also influenced by cognition. Based on established findings that VEPs are amplified for visual
inputs at currently attended locations, we expected a selective gain-modulation also for mSRPs. Eye movements
and EEG were coregistered in a classic spatial cueing task with an endogenous cue. Replicating behavioral findings,
the direction of early microsaccades 200–400 ms after cue onset was biased towards the cued side. However,
for microsaccades throughout the cue-target interval, mSRPs were systematically enhanced at occipital scalp
sites contralateral to the cued hemifield. This attention effect resembled that in a control condition with VEPs and
did not interact with the direction of the underlying microsaccade, suggesting that mSRPs reflect the focus of
sustained visuospatial attention, which remains fixed at the cued location, despite microsaccades. Microsaccades
are not merely an artifact source in the EEG; instead, they are followed by cognitively modulated brain potentials
that can serve as non-intrusive electrophysiological probes of attention.