Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

MPI CyberMotion Simulator: Implementation of a Novel Motion Simulator to Investigate Multisensory Path Integration in Three Dimensions
Published on: May 10, 2012
Representation of visual space in area 7a neurons using the center of mass equation
1Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ 07102, USA. axon@cortex.rutgers.edu
Abstract:
The firing rate of neurons in parietal area 7a of the behaving Rhesus monkey with its head fixed incorporates both visual and eye position information. This neural tuning is not in an ego-centered coordinate space. This physiological result was unexpected as behavioral deficits following parietal damage in human and monkey subjects suggested the existence of egocentric representations. A formulation to extract a world-centered system from area 7a neurons is presented that depends on the linearity of the eye position signal and the similarity of the equation describing the tuning of these neurons to the center of mass equation. This formulation permits the computation of the location of objects in world coordinates using either serial analysis of a single neuron's activity or parallel processing of a collection of neurons. Experimental predictions are made for the relationship between different parameters of angle of gaze neurons.
Related Concept Videos
Center of Mass: Introduction
Significance of Center of Mass
Finding the Center of Gravity
Center of Mass
The knowledge of the center of mass can also help us to describe and predict the motion of objects. For example, when a ball is thrown into...
Equation of Motion: Center of Mass
Internal forces between any pair of particles manifest as collinear pairs of equal magnitude but opposite directions,...
Moments and Centers of Mass

