The automatic allocation of attention to a salient stimulus in the visual periphery (e.g., a traffic light turning red) while maintaining fixation elsewhere (e.g., on the car ahead) is referred to as exogenous covert shift of attention (ECSA). An influential explanation is that ECSA results from the programming of a saccadic eye movement toward the stimulus of interest [1,2], although the actual movement may be withheld if needed. In this paper, however, we report evidence of ECSA in the paralyzed axis of three individuals with either horizontal or vertical congenital gaze paralysis, including for stimuli appearing at locations that cannot be foveated through head movements. This demonstrates that ECSA does not require programming either eye or head movements and calls for a re-examination of the oculomotor account.

将注意力自动分配到视觉周边的显着刺激（例如，交通灯变红），同时在其他地方（例如，对前方的汽车）保持注视，被称为外源性隐性注意力转移(ECSA)。一个有影响力的解释是 ECSA 是由向感兴趣的刺激物的扫视眼运动编程引起的 [1,2]，尽管实际运动可能会在需要时被抑制。然而，在本文中，我们报告了三个患有水平或垂直先天性凝视麻痹的个体的麻痹轴中 ECSA 的证据，包括出现在无法通过头部运动注视的位置的刺激。这表明 ECSA 不需要对眼睛或头部运动进行编程，并要求重新检查动眼神经帐户。