The oculomotor gap effect without a foveal fixation point

Turning off a fixation point prior to or coincident with the appearance of a visual target reduces the latency of saccades to that target. We investigated this 'gap effect' when subjects fixated a central point or the center of a square formed by four points that were 4, 2 or 1 degrees eccentric from the square's center. The fixation anchor vanished 200 ms prior to the appearance of a saccadic target in a Gap condition, coincident with the target's appearance in a 0-Gap condition, or remained on in an Overlap condition. Saccadic reaction time was reduced in the Gap relative to 0-Gap condition irrespective of the type of fixation anchor. However, saccadic reaction time was not reduced in the 0-Gap relative to Overlap condition when the points forming the square had eccentricities of 2 or 4 degrees. Results are interpreted in terms of a partial mediation of the gap effect by fixation cells in the rostral pole of the superior colliculus. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.