Related Experiment Videos
Superior colliculus neurons provide the saccadic motor error signal
D M Waitzman1, T P Ma, L M Optican
1Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Experimental Brain Research
|January 1, 1988
Summary
This study suggests superior colliculus neurons provide a motor error signal, not a desired eye position change, for saccadic eye movements. This places them within the feedback loop controlling saccade waveform.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Oculomotor research
- Systems neuroscience
Background:
- The superior colliculus (SC) is implicated in generating saccadic eye movements.
- Previous hypotheses suggested SC intermediate layers encode desired eye position change (delta E).
- Recent findings indicate some SC neurons may relate to saccade velocity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the function of neurons in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus.
- To test the hypothesis that these neurons encode a motor error signal (em) rather than a desired position change.
- To determine the role of SC neurons in the local feedback loop of saccade generation.
Main Methods:
- Single-cell recordings were performed in the intermediate layers of the monkey superior colliculus.
- Neuronal activity was analyzed in relation to saccadic eye movements.
Main Results:
- Single-cell recordings provide evidence consistent with the motor error signal (em) hypothesis.
- Findings suggest many SC neurons encode a motor error signal (em).
Conclusions:
- Neurons in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus likely provide a motor error signal (em).
- This function places these SC neurons within the local feedback loop that controls saccade waveform.
- The findings challenge previous models of SC function in saccade generation.