Cognitive control of saccadic eye movements

• Published in: Brain and cognition Vol. 68; no. 3; pp. 327 - 340
• Main Author: Hutton, S.B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-12-2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Antisaccades; Attention; Attention - physiology; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive control; Cognitive Processes; Control Groups; Eye Movements; Eye Movements - physiology; Human Body; Humans; Inhibition; Literature; Memory - physiology; Mental Disorders; Motion Perception - physiology; Prosaccades; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Psychopathology; Reaction Time - physiology; Researchers; Saccades - physiology; Short Term Memory; Visual Perception - physiology; Working memory; Prosaccades; Inhibition; Working memory; Antisaccades; Cognitive control; Attention
• ISSN: 0278-2626; 1090-2147
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2008.08.021

The saccadic eye movement system provides researchers with a powerful tool with which to explore the cognitive control of behaviour. It is a behavioural system whose limited output can be measured with exceptional precision, and whose input can be controlled and manipulated in subtle ways. A range of cognitive processes (notably those involved in working memory and attention) have been shown to influence saccade parameters. Researchers interested in the relationship between cognitive function and psychiatric disorders have made extensive use of saccadic eye movement tasks to draw inferences as to the cognitive deficits associated with particular psychopathologies. The purpose of this review is to provide researchers with an overview of the research literature documenting cognitive involvement in saccadic tasks in healthy controls. An appreciation of this literature provides a solid background against which to interpret the deficits on saccadic tasks demonstrated in patient populations.