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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
06:02
Topographical Estimation of Visual Population Receptive Fields by fMRI
Published on: February 3, 2015
Frontal eye field neurons with spatial representations predicted by their subcortical input
Trinity B Crapse1, Marc A Sommer
1Department of Neuroscience, Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA. tbc6@pitt.edu
Summary
The frontal eye field (FEF) gains access to information about the entire visual space, including the ipsilateral hemifield, through inputs from the superior colliculus (SC). This integration of contralateral and ipsilateral information is crucial for complex eye movement control.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Ophthalmology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The frontal eye field (FEF) controls cognitive aspects of eye movements.
- FEF neurons typically represent contralateral space, but complex functions require ipsilateral information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the FEF accesses information from the ipsilateral hemifield.
- To determine the role of the superior colliculus (SC) in providing ipsilateral information to the FEF.
Main Methods:
- Physiological identification of FEF neurons receiving input from the contralateral SC, ipsilateral SC, or both.
- Analysis of the relationship between SC input laterality and FEF receptive field laterality.
Main Results:
- FEF neurons receiving input from the contralateral SC exhibited ipsilateral response fields.
- FEF neurons receiving input from the ipsilateral SC showed contralateral response fields.
- FEF neurons with input from both SCs displayed fields that could point in any direction.
Conclusions:
- The superior colliculus (SC) is a significant source of ipsilateral information for the frontal eye field (FEF).
- SC inputs to the FEF enable representations of the entire visual space, supporting advanced sensorimotor computations.
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