Commentary Microsaccade Orientation Supports Attentional Enhancement Opposite a Peripheral Cue

paradigm to map the redistribution of spatial attention in response to a peripherally flashed cue. The probability of change detection at a given location was used as a measure of attention allocation. Using this measure, a ‘‘hot spot’ ’ of attention (i.e., close to perfect change detection) was found along the cue-fixation axis. This hot spot ex-tended in the hemifield opposite the cued location. Here we show that an analysis of fixational eye movements in a spatial-cuing paradigm supports this important finding. During fixation of a stationary target, micromovements of the eyes occur involuntarily. These fixational eye movements are classified as drift, tremor, and microsaccades. Microsaccades are the fastest of these three components, with amplitudes typically smaller than 11 of visual angle. Using a classical spatial-cuing paradigm (Posner, 1980) with central arrow cues indicating the most probable location of a later target, we recently demonstrated that microsaccades are modulated b