Localizing the Neural Substrate of Reflexive Covert Orienting

The mechanisms that underlie the control of visuospatial attention determine where we look at any moment. During everyday vision, the sudden appearance of a visual stimulus can “capture” attention (Godijn & Theeuwes, 2002), which can initially facilitate orienting to that location, but later may inhibit orienting to that location. These reflexive, covert orienting behaviors have been termed Attention Capture (AC) and Inhibition of Return (IOR), respectively, and have been central to our understanding of visuospatial orienting in real world contexts (Fecteau and Munoz 2006; Klein 2000; Klein and MacInnes 1999; Jonides 1981; Posner et al 1985; Sumner et al. 2002).