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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity
06:46

Investigating the Deployment of Visual Attention Before Accurate and Averaging Saccades via Eye Tracking and Assessment of Visual Sensitivity

Published on: March 18, 2019

The human frontal oculomotor cortical areas contribute asymmetrically to motor planning in a gap saccade task

Paul van Donkelaar1, Yu Lin, David Hewlett

  • 1Department of Human Physiology and Institute of Neuroscience, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States of America. paulvd@uoregon.edu

Plos One
|October 1, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Disrupting frontal eye fields (FEF) and supplementary eye fields (SEF) with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) increased multiple saccades, suggesting these areas control saccade planning and inhibition.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Oculomotor Control
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • Saccadic eye movements are crucial for aligning vision with objects.
  • Children exhibit poorly planned saccades, suggesting impaired inhibitory control.
  • Cortical oculomotor areas normally inhibit brainstem saccade circuitry.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of frontal eye fields (FEF) and supplementary eye fields (SEF) in saccade planning and inhibition.
  • To test the hypothesis that FEF and SEF exert inhibitory control over saccade generation circuitry.

Main Methods:

  • Single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to transiently disrupt neuronal activity in FEF and SEF in adults.
  • Participants performed a gap saccade task.
  • A control condition stimulated the dorsal motor cortex to rule out non-specific effects.

Main Results:

  • Disruption of FEF and left SEF increased the incidence of multiple saccades, particularly for ipsiversive directions.
  • This effect was most pronounced around the time of peripheral target appearance.
  • No significant effect was observed for the right SEF or contraversive saccades.

Conclusions:

  • The FEF and left SEF play a direction-dependent role in delaying saccade execution until planning is complete.
  • These findings support the role of cortical oculomotor areas in inhibitory control of saccade generation.
Abstract

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