Attention capture outside the oculomotor range

• Published in: Current biology 2020-11, Vol.30 (22), p.R1353-R1355
• Main Authors: Hanning, Nina M., Deubel, Heiner
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0960-9822; 1879-0445
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.09.054

Neurophysiological studies have demonstrated that attentional orienting is associated with activity in fronto-parietal brain areas that play a pivotal role in oculomotor control, such as the lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP), the frontal eye fields (FEF), and the superior colliculus (SC) (e.g., [1]). Accordingly, based on the influential premotor theory of attention, which posits that even covert shifts of spatial attention in the absence of eye movements are elicited by preceding activation in the oculomotor system [2], it has been claimed that attention can only be allocated to where we can potentially make an eye movement [3]. There are two forms of covert spatial attention: exogenous attention is automatic, stimulus-driven, and transiently deployed in ∼100 ms. Conversely, endogenous attention is voluntary, goal-driven, and deployed in a slower (∼300 ms) and sustained manner [4]. Notably, it has been postulated that only exogenous attention, but not endogenous attention, would be restricted to locations within the so-called oculomotor range that is accessible by saccadic eye movements [5,6]. To test this claim, we used a dissociation approach that allowed us to evaluate exogenous attention shifts to locations within and beyond observers’ oculomotor range via their disruptive, attention capturing costs for endogenous attention. We found that salient events equally grab exogenous attention both inside and outside the oculomotor range, demonstrating that exogenous attention can shift to locations not reachable by the eyes. It has been argued that exogenous (stimulus-driven) attention originates from oculomotor planning and is limited to locations the eyes can reach. In contradiction, Hanning and Deubel show that salient events grab attention even outside the eyes’ reach. Hence, exogenous attention can shift to any visible location independent of oculomotor limitations.