Cognitive Suppression During Saccadic Eye Movements

Saccadic eye movements are made at least 100,000 times each day It is well known that sensitivity to visual input is suppressed during saccades, we examined whether cognitive activity (specifically, mental rotation) is suppressed as well If cognitive processing occurs during saccades, a prime viewed in one fixation should exert a larger influence on a target viewed in a second fixation when a long rather than a short saccade separates their viewing No such effect was found, even though the time difference between long and short saccades was effective in a no-saccade control These results indicate that at least some cognitive operations are suppressed during saccades