Simulated central vision loss impairs implicit location probability learning

Some eye diseases, especially macular degeneration, can cause central vision loss (CVL), impairing goal-driven guidance of attention. Does CVL also affect implicit, experience-driven attention? We investigated how simulated scotomas affected young adults' ability to prioritize locations frequently containing visual search targets (location probability learning). Participants searched among distractor letter ‘L's for a target ‘T’ that appeared more often in one screen quadrant than others. To dissociate potential impairments statistical learning and attentional guidance, two experiments each included with without scotomas. Experiment 1 successfully induced no-scotoma phase. When participants later both scotomas, they showed persistent, statistically equivalent spatial biases scotoma search. 2 trained scotoma. While 1's acquired regardless their self-reported awareness the target's location probability, only aware learned bias attention high region. Similarly, no but not unaware participants. Together, these results show interferes acquisition implicitly learning, supporting role implicit biases.