Haidinger's brushes phenomenon for control of eye-fixation in a laterality experiment.

Haidinger's brushes phenomenon, as a fixation point, was examined in an experiment on laterality. 9 subjects were asked to recognize a Japanese letter presented in a hemifield and to estimate the accuracy of eye-fixation. A central digit was presented for 500 msec. before a letter. The subjects had twofold control of eye movement in the condition in which the brushes were presented. Most were able to maintain eye fixation and/or to detect eye movement more easily in the condition in which the brushes were presented. Left visual-field dominance in letter recognition was observed in both conditions both when Haidinger's brushes were presented and when they were not. The phenomenon significantly decreased the mean percent correct letters recognized in both right and left visual fields.