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Related Experiment Videos

Multielectrode evidence for spreading activity across the superior colliculus movement map.

N L Port1, M A Sommer, R H Wurtz

  • 1Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20982-4435, USA. nlp@lsr.nei.nih.gov

Journal of Neurophysiology
|July 19, 2000
PubMed
Summary

Activity spreads from caudal to rostral in the monkey superior colliculus (SC) during individual saccadic eye movements. This sequential neural activation, observed in real-time, confirms previous findings and offers new insights into SC function during visually guided actions.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Ophthalmology
  • Systems Neuroscience

Background:

  • The monkey superior colliculus (SC) contains maps for visual input and motor output.
  • Previous studies inferred activity spread within the SC from averaged data across multiple saccades.
  • The precise spatiotemporal dynamics of SC activity during individual saccades were not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To directly observe and quantify the spread of neuronal activity within the SC during individual saccadic eye movements.
  • To compare real-time observations with previous inferences based on averaged neuronal activity.

Main Methods:

  • Simultaneous recording of neuronal activity from pairs of neurons along the rostral-caudal axis of the SC in monkeys.
  • Analysis of neuronal discharge timing during individual saccades using peak discharge difference, median activation time, and cross-correlation.

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  • Comparison of neuronal activity onset relative to saccade onset.

    • Main Results:

    • A statistically significant caudal-to-rostral spread of neuronal activation was observed during individual saccades.
    • The order of activation was most frequently from caudal to rostral SC neurons.
    • Caudal SC activity typically preceded saccade onset, while rostral SC activity occurred during the saccade.

    Conclusions:

    • Direct evidence supports a caudal-to-rostral spread of activity within the monkey SC during single saccades.
    • These findings confirm previous inferences derived from averaged neuronal activity.
    • The functional significance of this observed activity spread during saccade generation requires further investigation.