Inhibition of return: Neural basis and function

TLDR

Neuropsychology seeks to link cognitive functions to neural systems, and in spatial attention the component of inhibition of return—avoiding reorienting to previously attended locations—has been studied using brain‑injured patients. The study aims to examine how inhibition of return relates to the neural circuitry that generates saccades in both patients and normal observers. The results show that inhibition of return is associated with specific neural systems involved in saccade generation.

Abstract

A goal of neuropsychology is to connect cognitive functions with underlying neural systems. Posner (1984; in press) has proposed a framework for doing so in which elementary mental operations in cognitive models are expressed in terms of component facilitations and inhibitions in the performance of normal persons. Studies of brain-injured patients are used to link these components to underlying neural systems. In the area of spatial attention one such component is the tendency to inhibit orienting towards visual locations which have been previously attended (inhibition of return). Here we report studies in patients and normals which demonstrate the relationship of this component to neural systems which generate saccades.