Saccade-induced retrieval enhancement (SIRE) refers to the phenomenon that actively engaging in horizontal eye movements before recall enhances subsequent memory performance. This effect is thought to be the result of interhemispheric interactions stimulated by saccades. An alternative explanation is that saccades promote memory retrieval by improving top–down attention control. Thus, the mechanisms of SIRE are unclear, and the present meta-analysis quantitatively analysed the effect of saccades on memory performance and examined the mechanisms of SIRE. We searched “Web of Science,” “PubMed,” and “Springer” for peer-reviewed papers using the keywords “eye movements + memory” and “saccades + memory.” Twenty-two papers were included in the final analysis. There was a significant facilitation of horizontal saccades on overall memory performance, with a pooled effect size (Cohen’s d) of 0.45 (p < .001). However, the overall effect of vertical saccades was not significant (d = 0.1, p = .14). Moderation analysis showed that the handedness of participants was a significant moderator of SIRE, with strongly right-handed individuals benefitting more from horizontal saccades than non-strongly right-handed individuals (p < .01). Horizontal saccades improved memory performance, particularly for strongly right-handed individuals. These results support the interhemispheric interaction hypothesis.
*BrunyeT. T.MahoneyC. R.AugustynJ. S.TaylorH. A. (2009). Horizontal saccadic eye movements enhance the retrieval of landmark shape and location information. Brain and Cognition, 70(3), 279–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2009.03.003
2.
CabezaR.NybergL. (2000). Imaging cognition II: An empirical review of 275 PET and fMRI studies. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12(1), 1–47. https://doi.org/10.1162/08989290051137585
3.
*ChristmanS. D.GarveyK. J.PropperR. E.PhaneufK. A. (2003). Bilateral eye movements enhance the retrieval of episodic memories. Neuropsychology, 17(2), 221–229.
4.
ChristmanS. D.PropperR. E. (2001). Superior episodic memory is associated with interhemispheric processing. Neuropsychology, 15(4), 607–616. https://doi.org/10.1037//0894-4105.15.4.607
5.
*ChristmanS. D.PropperR. E.BrownT. J. (2006). Increased interhemispheric interaction is associated with earlier offset of childhood amnesia. Neuropsychology, 20(3), 336–345. https://doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.20.3.336
6.
*ChristmanS. D.PropperR. E.DionA. (2004). Increased interhemispheric interaction is associated with decreased false memories in a verbal converging semantic associates paradigm. Brain and Cognition, 56(3), 313–319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2004.08.005
7.
CorbettaM.ShulmanG. L. (2002). Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 3(3), 201–215. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn755
8.
CroninGolombA.GabrieliJ. D. E.KeaneM. M. (1996). Implicit and explicit memory retrieval within and across the disconnected cerebral hemispheres. Neuropsychology, 10(2), 254–262. https://doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.10.2.254
9.
DuvalS.TweedieR. (2000). Trim and fill: A simple funnel-plot-based method of testing and adjusting for publication bias in meta-analysis. Biometrics, 56(2), 455–463. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0006-341X.2000.00455.x
10.
EdlinJ. M.LyleK. B. (2013). The effect of repetitive saccade execution on the attention network test: Enhancing executive function with a flick of the eyes. Brain and Cognition, 81(3), 345–351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2012.12.006
11.
FleckJ. I.OlsenR.TumminiaM.DePalmaF.BerroaJ.VrabelA.MillerS. (2018). Changes in brain connectivity following exposure to bilateral eye movements. Brain and Cognition, 123, 142–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2018.03.009
JohanssonJ.SalamiA.LundquistA.WahlinA.AnderssonM.NybergL. (2020). Longitudinal evidence that reduced hemispheric encoding/retrieval asymmetry predicts episodic-memory impairment in aging. Neuropsychologia, 137, 107329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107329
14.
LudersE.CherbuinN.ThompsonP. M.GutmanB.AnsteyK. J.SachdevP.TogaA. W. (2010). When more is less: Associations between corpus callosum size and handedness lateralization. NeuroImage, 52(1), 43–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.04.016
15.
*LyleK. B. (2018). Effects of handedness consistency and saccade execution on eyewitness memory in cued- and free-recall procedures. Memory, 26(9), 1169–1180. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2017.1420802
16.
*LyleK. B.EdlinJ. M. (2015). Why does saccade execution increase episodic memory retrieval? A test of the top-down attentional control hypothesis. Memory, 23(2), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2013.877487
17.
*LyleK. B.Hanaver-TorrezS. D.HacklanderR. P.EdlinJ. M. (2012). Consistency of handedness, regardless of direction, predicts baseline memory accuracy and potential for memory enhancement. Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory & Cognition, 38(1), 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024831
18.
*LyleK. B.JacobsN. E. (2010). Is saccade-induced retrieval enhancement a potential means of improving eyewitness evidence?Memory, 18(6), 581–594. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2010.493891
19.
*LyleK. B.LoganJ. M.RoedigerI. I. I. (2008). Eye movements enhance memory for individuals who are strongly right-handed and harm it for individuals who are not. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 15(3), 515–520. https://doi.org/10.3758/pbr.15.3.515
20.
LyleK. B.MartinJ. M. (2010). Bilateral saccades increase intrahemispheric processing but not interhemispheric interaction: Implications for saccade-induced retrieval enhancement. Brain and Cognition, 73(2), 128–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2010.04.004
21.
*LyleK. B.OrsbornA. E. (2011). Inconsistent handedness and saccade execution benefit face memory without affecting interhemispheric interaction. Memory, 19(6), 613–624. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2011.595418
22.
*MatzkeD.NieuwenhuisS.van RijnH.SlagterH. A.van der MolenM. W.WagenmakersE. J. (2015). The effect of horizontal eye movements on free recall: A preregistered adversarial collaboration. Journal of Experimental Psychology General, 144(1), e1–e15. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000038
23.
*NieuwenhuisS.ElzingaB. M.RasP. H.BerendsF.DuijsP.SamaraZ.SlagterH. A. (2013). Bilateral saccadic eye movements and tactile stimulation, but not auditory stimulation, enhance memory retrieval. Brain and Cognition, 81(1), 52–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2012.10.003
24.
*ParkerA.BuckleyS.DagnallN. (2009). Reduced misinformation effects following saccadic bilateral eye movements. Brain and Cognition, 69(1), 89–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2008.05.009
25.
*ParkerA.DagnallN. (2007). Effects of bilateral eye movements on gist based false recognition in the DRM paradigm. Brain and Cognition, 63(3), 221–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2006.08.005
26.
*ParkerA.DagnallN. (2010). Effects of handedness and saccadic bilateral eye movements on components of autobiographical recollection. Brain and Cognition, 73(2), 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2010.03.005
27.
*ParkerA.DagnallN. (2012). Effects of saccadic bilateral eye movements on memory in children and adults: An exploratory study. Brain and Cognition, 78(3), 238–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2012.01.007
28.
*ParkerA.ParkinA.DagnallN. (2013). Effects of saccadic bilateral eye movements on episodic and semantic autobiographical memory fluency. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, e630. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00630
29.
*ParkerA.ParkinA.DagnallN. (2017). Effects of handedness & saccadic bilateral eye movements on the specificity of past autobiographical memory & episodic future thinking. Brain and Cognition, 114, 40–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2017.03.006
30.
*ParkerA.PowellD.DagnallN. (2018). Effects of saccade induced retrieval enhancement on conceptual and perceptual tests of explicit & implicit memory. Brain and Cognition, 121, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2017.12.002
31.
*ParkerA.RelphS.DagnallN. (2008). Effects of bilateral eye movements on the retrieval of item, associative, and contextual information. Neuropsychology, 22(1), 136–145. https://doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.22.1.136
32.
*PhafR. H. (2017). Eye movements enhance recollection of re-imagined negative words: A link between EMDR and sire?Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 8(4), 364–375. https://doi.org/10.5127/jep.059916
33.
PrendergastG.Limbrick-OldfieldE.IngamellsE.GathercoleS.BaddeleyA.GreenG. G. R. (2013). Differential patterns of prefrontal MEG activation during verbal & visual encoding and retrieval. PLOS ONE, 8(12), Article e82936. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0082936
34.
PropperR. E.ChristmanS. D.PhaneufK. A. (2005). A mixed-handed advantage in episodic memory: A possible role of interhemispheric interaction. Memory & Cognition, 33(4), 751–757.
35.
PropperR. E.PierceJ.GeislerM. W.ChristmanS. D.BelloradoN. (2007). Effect of bilateral eye movements on frontal interhemispheric gamma EEG coherence—Implications for EMDR therapy. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195(9), 785–788. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0b013e318142cf73
36.
*SamaraZ.ElzingaB. M.SlagterH. A.NieuwenhuisS. (2011). Do horizontal saccadic eye movements increase interhemispheric coherence? Investigation of a hypothesized neural mechanism underlying EMDR. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2, Article 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2011.00004
37.
ShapiroF. (1989). Eye movement desensitization: A new treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 20(3), 211–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7916(89)90025-6
38.
ShobeE. R.RossN. M.FleckJ. I. (2009). Influence of handedness and bilateral eye movements on creativity. Brain and Cognition, 71(3), 204–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2009.08.017
39.
TulvingE.KapurS.CraikF. I. M.MoscovitchM.HouleS. (1994). Hemispheric encoding/retrieval asymmetry in episodic memory: Positron emission tomography findings. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 91(6), 2016–2020. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.91.6.2016
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
