Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026
09:36
Extracting Visual Evoked Potentials from EEG Data Recorded During fMRI-guided Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Published on: May 12, 2014
TMS pulses on the frontal eye fields break coupling between visuospatial attention and eye movements
S F W Neggers1, W Huijbers, C M Vrijlandt
1Experimental Psychology, Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. b.neggers@umcutrecht.nl
Journal of Neurophysiology
|August 19, 2007
Summary
The frontal eye fields (FEFs) couple eye movements with attention shifts. Disrupting FEFs with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) reduced visual processing benefits at saccade targets, confirming FEF
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Visual Perception
Background:
- During saccadic eye movements, visual processing prioritizes the intended goal.
- The precise neural mechanisms linking eye movements and visuospatial attention shifts remain under investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of frontal eye fields (FEFs) in coupling saccade preparation and visuospatial attention.
- To determine if FEFs mediate the enhanced visual processing observed at saccade targets.
Main Methods:
- fMRI-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied to FEFs.
- Participants prepared saccadic eye movements towards a target location.
- A discrimination task was performed at or near the saccade target before or after TMS.
Main Results:
- TMS applied to contralateral FEFs significantly diminished the enhancement in discrimination performance at the saccade target location.
- This disruption occurred when TMS was delivered shortly before target presentation, indicating a causal role for FEFs.
Conclusions:
- FEFs are crucial for integrating saccade preparation with visuospatial attention.
- Feedback projections from FEFs to visual cortex likely mediate this coupling, enhancing visual processing at attended locations.
