Antisaccades generate two types of saccadic inhibition.
To make an antisaccade away from a stimulus, one must also suppress the more reflexive prosaccade to the stimulus. Whether this inhibition is diffuse or specific for saccade direction is not known. We used a paradigm examining inter-trial carry-over effects. Twelve subjects performed sequences of four identical antisaccades followed by sequences of four prosaccades randomly directed at the location of the antisaccade stimulus, the location of the antisaccade goal, or neutral locations. We found two types of persistent antisaccade-related inhibition. First, prosaccades in any direction were delayed only in the first trial after the antisaccades. Second, prosaccades to the location of the antisaccade stimulus were delayed more than all other prosaccades, and this persisted from the first to the fourth subsequent trial. These findings are consistent with both a transient global inhibition and a more sustained focal inhibition specific for the location of the antisaccade stimulus.
University Eye Clinic, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Mathias
M
Abegg
Nishant
N
Sharma
Jason J S
JJ
Barton
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*