title: Surprise, surprise: two distinct components in the visually evoked distractor effect.
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.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology III, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. graupner@psychomail.tu-dresden.de
authors.forename: Sven-Thomas
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Graupner
authors.forename: Boris M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Velichkovsky
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pannasch
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marx
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005403:Fixation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*