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The role of the posterior parietal cortex in saccadic error processing
Jérôme Munuera1,2,3, Jean-René Duhamel4
1Institut Des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5229, Bron, France. jerome.munuera@icm-institute.org.
Brain Structure & Function
|February 18, 2020
Summary
The lateral intraparietal area (LIP) plays a crucial role in detecting and correcting eye movement errors. Neurons in LIP signal inaccuracies in saccades, influencing corrective eye movements.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Oculomotor Systems
- Visual Perception
Background:
- Ocular saccades are essential for continuous visual perception but are prone to errors due to sensory-motor variability.
- Corrective saccades are initiated to fix saccadic inaccuracies, relying on both retinal feedback and internal signals.
- The neural basis for saccadic error processing remains incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neurophysiological mechanisms of saccadic error processing.
- To identify the role of the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) in detecting and correcting saccadic errors.
Main Methods:
- Training rhesus monkeys to perform visually guided saccades with imperceptible target displacements.
- Recording neuronal activity in the LIP during saccade tasks.
- Inactivating LIP to observe effects on corrective saccade initiation.
Main Results:
- A subpopulation of LIP neurons exhibited increased firing after inaccurate saccades, indicating error detection.
- This error- signaling mechanism in LIP was independent of retinal feedback and corrective saccade execution.
- LIP inactivation selectively increased the latency of initiating small, natural corrective saccades.
Conclusions:
- The lateral intraparietal area (LIP) is critically involved in processing saccadic motor errors.
- LIP contributes to the rapid initiation of corrective saccades following inaccurate eye movements.
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