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Frontal eye field activity preceding aurally guided saccades
1Section of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.
Journal of Neurophysiology
|March 1, 1994
Summary
Neurons in the frontal eye field (FEF) are active during auditory-guided saccades, similar to visual-guided ones. This suggests a common neural pathway for processing both visual and auditory targets for eye movements.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Oculomotor research
- Auditory processing
Background:
- The frontal eye field (FEF) is crucial for controlling eye movements, particularly saccades.
- FEF neurons typically exhibit activity related to visually guided saccades.
- The role of FEF in processing auditory targets for saccades remains less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neuronal activity in the FEF during saccades directed towards auditory targets.
- To determine if FEF neurons involved in visual saccades also contribute to auditory-guided saccades.
- To explore the coordinate systems used by FEF for auditory versus visual target representation.
Main Methods:
- Recorded neuronal activity in the monkey's FEF during saccades to auditory and visual targets.
- Tested FEF responses from different initial fixation directions.
- Used intracortical microstimulation to evoke saccades and assess neuronal function.
Main Results:
- FEF neurons active for visual saccades were also active for auditory saccades, even in darkness.
- Movement fields for auditory saccades were dependent on saccade dimensions, not speaker location, indicating gaze-centered coding.
- Intracortical microstimulation evoked saccades consistent with the recorded movement fields.
Conclusions:
- FEF plays a significant role in both visually and aurally guided saccades.
- Auditory and visual target information converges in the FEF to a common movement vector representation.
- This integrated representation is relayed to downstream structures like the superior colliculus for saccade execution.