Functionally defined smooth and saccadic eye movement subregions in the frontal eye field of Cebus monkeys

1. Intracortical microstimulation was used to localize and define the smooth and saccadic eye movement subregions of the frontal eye field (FEF) and the supplementary eye field (SEF) in nine hemispheres of six Cebus apella monkeys and to map the hand/arm areas in the dorsal premotor area and other adjacent areas in five hemispheres of three C. apella monkeys. Monkeys were anesthetized during experiments with Telazol, a dissociative agent that has no significant effect on microstimulation-induced eye movement parameters (current threshold, velocity, and duration). The functional subregions were defined with the use of low threshold current (< or = 50 microA). Electrically elicited eye movements were videotaped and quantified. The two types of eye movements were clearly distinguished by their significantly different duration and velocity (P < 0.0001) and their different responses to long stimulus trains. 2. The saccadic subregion of the FEF in Cebus monkeys is in the same location as in macaque monkeys (Walker's areas 8a and 45). Most of the functional and anatomic characteristics of the saccadic subregion of Cebus are the same as those reported in the saccadic FEF subregion of macaque monkeys. 3. A subregion in which only smooth eye movements were evoked was found in the posterior shoulder of the superior arcuate sulcus near its medial tip. A band of inexcitable cortex separated the SEF and this smooth eye movement subregion of the FEF. This supports the proposal that the smooth eye movement subregion is independent of the SEF but is analogous to the saccadic subregion of the FEF. The existence of two subregions of the FEF was further confirmed by single-unit recording results. It is proposed that the smooth eye movement subregion in Cebus monkeys may be comparable with the one described in macaque monkeys. 4. Both saccadic and smooth eye movements were also reliably evoked in the SEF in each hemisphere studied. This result strongly indicates that the SEF is concerned with not only saccadic eye movements, as previously reported, but also with smooth (pursuit) eye movements.