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Frames of reference for eye-head gaze commands in primate supplementary eye fields
Julio C Martinez-Trujillo1, W Pieter Medendorp, Hongying Wang
1Laboratory of Visuomotor Neuroscience, Centre for Vision Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Group for Action and Perception and Department of Psychology, CSB York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada. julio.martinez@mcgill.ca
Neuron
|December 18, 2004
Summary
The supplementary eye field (SEF) uses diverse reference frames to encode gaze direction, enabling flexible control of eye and head movements. This brain region
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Oculomotor Systems
Background:
- The supplementary eye field (SEF) is crucial for integrating visuospatial information and controlling complex eye-head gaze shifts.
- Understanding the reference frames used by the SEF is key to deciphering gaze control mechanisms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether the SEF encodes gaze directions in a simple retinal (eye-centered) frame or a more complex frame.
- To determine the range of reference frames utilized by individual SEF stimulation sites.
Main Methods:
- Electrically stimulated 55 SEF sites in two head-unrestrained monkeys.
- Evoked three-dimensional (3D) eye-head gaze shifts.
- Mathematically rotated gaze trajectories into various reference frames to analyze coding schemes.
Main Results:
- Each SEF stimulation site specified a unique spatial goal within its intrinsic reference frame.
- These intrinsic frames exhibited a continuum of coding schemes, ranging from eye-centered to head-centered and space/body-centered.
- Significant variability in reference frame coding was observed across different SEF sites.
Conclusions:
- The SEF employs a diverse set of intrinsic reference frames for encoding spatial goals.
- This variability provides the SEF with the capacity for arbitrary reference frame transformations.
- The SEF's flexible coding is essential for complex gaze control and sensorimotor integration.