In Experiment 2 (eye abduction during retention and retrieval) the only significant reduction in spatial span was observed when memoranda were presented in the Temporal 40° Abducted condition, with no comparable drop or trend in the 20° Abducted condition. Considering the further absence of any effect of abduction in Experiment 3 (abduction during retrieval only), we argue these results offer strong support for oculomotor involvement during the maintenance of directly-indicated spatial locations in working memory. As outlined in the introduction,

previous studies have struggled to reliably decouple attentional processes from oculomotor control processes in VSWM. We propose the present study is the first to unambiguously demonstrate GW3965 supplier that the oculomotor system contributes to the maintenance of spatial locations in working memory independently from any involvement of covert attention. This claim rests on the decoupling of oculomotor processes and attention that occurs when participants are placed in a 40° Abducted position and spatial memoranda are presented wholly in the temporal hemifield. Critically, participants can still see everything in the display and can covertly shift their attention within the

abducted hemifield, but are they physically unable selleck products to make any further eye-movements. It is only in this condition that spatial memory span is significantly reduced. This reduction cannot be explained by differences in the quality of sensory information between conditions, as previous studies have shown that eye-abduction does not reduce visual acuity (Ball et al., 2013 and Craighero et al., 2004). Given that our interpretation of these data rests on the decoupling of endogenous attention and saccade control, it is worth noting that there is substantial behavioral and neuropsychological evidence for this dissociation. For example, neuropsychological evidence supporting separation between the oculomotor system and attentional control comes from reported cases of patients with defective oculomotor control who are still Cediranib (AZD2171) able to covertly orient their attention (Gabay et al., 2010,

Rafal et al., 1988 and Smith et al., 2004). Smith et al. (2012) have also previously shown using an eye-abduction paradigm that numeric cues elicit covert endogenous shifts of attention to locations in the temporal hemispace even when they cannot become the goal of saccadic eye movements. In healthy participants, a series of studies by Klein and colleagues have shown that covert shifts of attention triggered by symbolic cues do not facilitate subsequent saccadic eye-movements (Hunt and Kingstone, 2003, Klein, 1980 and Klein and Pontefract, 1992). Furthermore, Belopolsky and Theeuwes, 2009b and Belopolsky and Theeuwes, 2012 have argued that endogenous attention associated with maintaining attention at a spatial location is independent from the preparation of an eye-movement to the same location.