Optokinetic nystagmus and spatial-selective attention. An experimental study.

The influence of spatial-selective attention on the direction of the optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) was investigated in normal humans. During horizontal optokinetic stimulation of the peripheral retina, the central visual field was neutralized by ambivalent stimulation. The results showed that the direction of the OKN was modulated by the direction of the attention. A central mechanism that processes the optic information according to spatial-selective attention is proposed.