Saccade-Related Activity in the Primate Superior Colliculus Depends on the Presence of Local Landmarks at the Saccade Endpoint

2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 1728-1736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay A. Edelman ◽  
Michael E. Goldberg
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Intermediate Layer ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Blank Space ◽  
Complete Darkness ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Visual Landmarks ◽  
Small Spot ◽  
Saccade Velocity ◽  
Dark Space

Saccade-related discharge in the superior colliculus is greater for saccades made to a spot of light than for saccades in complete darkness. However, it is unclear whether this enhancement is due to the discontinuity of the spot or due to its being a new object of fixation. In these experiments, we examined the saccade-related activity of intermediate-layer neurons in the primate superior colliculus during delayed saccades to the center or corner of a large, bright square, as well as for visual and memory-guided movements to small spots in isolation. The saccade-related discharge for movements made to a local visual landmark present at the time of the saccade, be it a corner of a square or a small spot, was higher than that for saccades made to the center of a square that contained no local visual landmarks within. Moreover, discharge for movements to the center of a square were very similar to that for saccades to blank, dark space. Saccade velocity was similarly dependent on the presence of such a landmark, though less dramatically. The endpoints of saccades directed toward a square's corner were slightly displaced toward the center of the square. Across all neurons, discharge and velocity for saccades to the center of a square increased as the square size was decreased, but were never greater than those for saccades to a small spot of light. These results suggest that both saccade-related discharge in the superior colliculus and saccade metrics are enhanced for movements directed to parts of the visual scene with high contrast, while shifting fixation to a new object is not itself sufficient to elevate discharge and metrics above those of saccades to blank space.

Dependence of Saccade-Related Activity in the Primate Superior Colliculus on Visual Target Presence

2001 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 676-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay A. Edelman ◽  
Michael E. Goldberg
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Visual Response ◽  
Target Presence ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Intermediate Layers ◽  
Saccade Velocity ◽  
Trial Basis ◽  
Visual Targets ◽  
Extracellular Activity

Neurons in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus respond to visual targets and/or discharge immediately before and during saccades. These visual and motor responses have generally been considered independent, with the visual response dependent on the nature of the stimulus, and the saccade-related activity related to the attributes of the saccade, but not to how the saccade was elicited. In these experiments we asked whether saccade-related discharge in the superior colliculus depended on whether the saccade was directed to a visual target. We recorded extracellular activity of neurons in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus of three rhesus monkeys during saccades in tasks in which we varied the presence or absence of a visual target and the temporal delays between the appearance and disappearance of a target and saccade initiation. Across our sample of neurons ( n = 64), discharge was highest when a saccade was made to a still-present visual target, regardless of whether the target had recently appeared or had been present for several hundred milliseconds. Discharge was intermediate when the target had recently disappeared and lowest when the target had never appeared during that trial. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that saccade-related discharge decreases as the time between the target disappearance and saccade initiation increases. Saccade velocity was also higher for saccades to visual targets, and correlated on a trial-by-trial basis with perisaccadic discharge for many neurons. However, discharge of many neurons was dependent on task but independent of saccade velocity, and across our sample of neurons, saccade velocity was higher for saccades made immediately after target appearance than would be predicted by discharge level. A tighter relationship was found between saccade precision and perisaccadic discharge. These findings suggest that just as the purpose of the saccadic system in primates is to drive the fovea to a visual target, presaccadic motor activity in the superior colliculus is most intense when such a target is actually present. This enhanced activity may, itself, contribute to the enhanced performance of the saccade system when the saccade is made to a real visual target.

Local Excitatory Circuits in the Intermediate Gray Layer of the Superior Colliculus

1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 1424-1427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana L. Pettit ◽  
Matthew C. Helms ◽  
Psyche Lee ◽  
George J. Augustine ◽  
William C. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Intermediate Layer ◽  
Tree Shrew ◽  
Patch Clamp Recording ◽  
Inward Current ◽  
Whole Cell Patch Clamp ◽  
Synaptic Interactions ◽  
Layer Neuron ◽  
Inward Currents ◽  
Synaptic Responses

Local excitatory circuits in the intermediate gray layer of the superior colliculus. We have used photostimulation and whole cell patch-clamp recording techniques to examine local synaptic interactions in slices from the superior colliculus of the tree shrew. Uncaging glutamate 10–75 μm from the somata of neurons in the intermediate gray layer elicited a long-lasting inward current, due to direct activation of glutamate receptors on these neurons, and brief inward currents caused by activation of presynaptic neurons. The synaptic responses occurred as individual currents or as clusters that lasted up to several hundred milliseconds. Excitatory synaptic responses, which reversed at membrane potentials near 0 mV, could be evoked by uncaging glutamate anywhere within 75 μm of an intermediate layer neuron. Our results indicate the presence of extensive local excitatory circuits in the intermediate layer of the superior colliculus and support the hypothesis that such intrinsic circuitry contributes to the development of presaccadic command bursts.

Macaque Frontal Eye Field Input to Saccade-Related Neurons in the Superior Colliculus

2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 1046-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet O. Helminski ◽  
Mark A. Segraves
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Rhesus Monkeys ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Specific Class ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Deep Layers ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Visuomotor Tasks ◽  
Superior Colliculus Neurons ◽  
Made In

Extracellular recordings were made simultaneously in the frontal eye field and superior colliculus in awake, behaving rhesus monkeys. Frontal eye field microstimulation was used to orthodromically activate the superior colliculus both to locate the depth of the strongest frontal eye field input to the superior colliculus and to identify superior colliculus neurons receiving direct frontal eye field input. The activity of orthodromically driven colliculus neurons was characterized during visuomotor tasks. The purpose of this study was to identify the types of superior colliculus neurons that receive excitatory frontal eye field input. We found that microstimulation of the frontal eye field did not activate the superficial layers of the superior colliculus but did activate the deeper layers. This pattern of activation coincided with the prevalence of visual versus saccade-related activity in the superficial and deep layers. A total of 83 orthodromically driven superior colliculus neurons were identified. Of these neurons, 93% ( n = 77) exhibited a burst of activity associated with the onset of the saccade, and 25% ( n = 21) exhibited prelude/build-up activity prior to the onset of a saccade. In addition, it was common to see some activity synchronized with the onset of a visual target (30%, n = 25). In single neurons, these activity profiles could be observed alone or in combination. Superior colliculus neurons that were exclusively visual, however, were not excited by frontal eye field stimulation. We compared the activity of superior colliculus neurons that received frontal eye field input to descriptions of saccade-related neurons made in earlier reports and found that the distribution of neuron types in the orthodromically driven population was similar to the distribution within the overall population. This suggests that the frontal eye field does not selectively influence a specific class of collicular neurons, but, instead has a direct influence on all preparatory, and saccade-related activity within the deep layers of the superior colliculus.

Primate premotor cortex: modulation of preparatory neuronal activity by gaze angle

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 886-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Boussaoud
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Target Position ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Coordinate Space ◽  
Eye Position ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Visuomotor Task ◽  
Small Spot ◽  
The Right

1. This study investigated whether the neuronal activity of a cortical area devoted to the control of limb movements is affected by variations in eye position within the orbit. Two rhesus monkeys were trained to perform a conditional visuomotor task with an instructed delay period while maintaining gaze on a fixation point. 2. The experimental design required each monkey to put its hand on a metal touch pad located at arm's length and fixate a small spot of light presented on a computer screen. Then a visual cue came on, at the fixation point or elsewhere, the color of which instructed the monkey to move its limb to one of two touch pads according to a conditional rule. A red cue meant a movement to the left, whereas a green one instructed a movement to the right. The cue lasted for a variable delay period (1-3 s), and the monkey had to wait for its offset, the go signal, before performing the correct response. The fixation point and the cues were presented at various screen locations in a combination that allowed examination of whether eye position and/or target position modulate the neuronal activity. Because the monkeys' heads were fixed, all changes in eye position reflected movements in a craniocentric, head-centered, coordinate space. 3. The activity of single neurons was recorded from dorsal premotor cortex (PMd). For most neurons (79%), the activity during the instructed delay period (set-related activity) reflects the direction of the upcoming limb movement but varies significantly with eye position.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Organization of monkey superior colliculus: intermediate layer cells discharging before eye movements

1976 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 722-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. W. Mohler ◽  
R. H. Wurtz
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Intermediate Layer ◽  
Visual Fields ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Superficial Layer ◽  
Cell Discharge ◽  
Intermediate Layers ◽  
Dorsal Edge

1. We investigated the characteristics of cells in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus that increase their rate of discharge before saccadic eye movements. Eye movements were repeatedly elicited by training rhesus monkeys to fixate on a spot of light and to make saccades to other spots of light when the fixation spot was turned off. 2. The eye movement cells showed consistent variations with their depth within the colliculus. The onset of the cell discharge led the eye movement by less time and the duration of the discharge was shorter as the cell was located closer to the dorsal edge of the intermediate layers. The movements fields (that area of the visual field where a saccade into the area is preceded by a burst of cell discharges) of each successive cell also became smaller as the cells were located more dorsally. The profile of peak discharge frequency remained fairly flat throughout the movement field of the cells regardless of depth of the cell within the colliculus. 3. A new type of eye movement-related cell has been found which usually lies at the border between the superficial and intermediate layers. This cell type, the visually triggered movement cell, increased its rate of discharge before saccades made to a visual stimulus but not before spontaneous saccades of equal amplitude made in the light or the dark. A vigorous discharge of these cells before an eye movement was dependent on the presence of a visual target; the cells seemed to combine the visual input of superficial layer cells and the movement-related input of the intermediate layer cells. The size of the movement fields of these cells were about the same size as the visual fields of superficial layer cells just above them...

scholarly journals Macaque Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Does not Suppress Saccade-Related Activity in the Superior Colliculus

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1373-1388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Johnston ◽  
Michael J. Koval ◽  
Stephen G. Lomber ◽  
Stefan Everling
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Dorsolateral Prefrontal

scholarly journals Activity in the human superior colliculus relating to endogenous saccade preparation and execution

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 1048-1058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Furlan ◽  
Andrew T. Smith ◽  
Robin Walker
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Small Amplitude ◽  
Nonhuman Primates ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Responses ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Preparatory Activity ◽  
Saccade Preparation ◽  
Increased Activity

In recent years a small number of studies have applied functional imaging techniques to investigate visual responses in the human superior colliculus (SC), but few have investigated its oculomotor functions. Here, in two experiments, we examined activity associated with endogenous saccade preparation. We used 3-T fMRI to record the hemodynamic activity in the SC while participants were either preparing or executing saccadic eye movements. Our results showed that not only executing a saccade (as previously shown) but also preparing a saccade produced an increase in the SC hemodynamic activity. The saccade-related activity was observed in the contralateral and to a lesser extent the ipsilateral SC. A second experiment further examined the contralateral mapping of saccade-related activity with a larger range of saccade amplitudes. Increased activity was again observed in both the contralateral and ipsilateral SC that was evident for large as well as small saccades. This suggests that the ipsilateral component of the increase in BOLD is not due simply to small-amplitude saccades producing bilateral activity in the foveal fixation zone. These studies provide the first evidence of presaccadic preparatory activity in the human SC and reveal that fMRI can detect activity consistent with that of buildup neurons found in the deeper layers of the SC in studies of nonhuman primates.

Saccade-related activity in monkey superior colliculus. I. Characteristics of burst and buildup cells

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 2313-2333 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Munoz ◽  
R. H. Wurtz
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Striking Difference ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Slow Increase ◽  
High Frequency Discharge ◽  
Optimal Direction ◽  
Saccade Onset ◽  
Increased Activity

1. In the monkey superior colliculus (SC), the activity of most saccade-related neurons studied so far consists of a burst of activity in a population of cells at one place on the SC movement map. In contrast, recent experiments in the cat have described saccade-related activity as a slow increase in discharge before saccades followed by a hill of activity moving across the SC map. In order to explore this striking difference in the distribution of activity across the SC, we recorded from all saccade-related neurons that we encountered in microelectrode penetrations through the monkey SC and placed them in categories according to their activity during the generation of saccades. 2. When we considered the activity preceding the onset of the saccade, we could divide the cells into two categories. Cells with burst activity had a high-frequency discharge just before saccade onset but little activity between the signal to make a saccade and saccade onset. About two thirds of the saccade-related cells had only a burst of activity. Cells with a buildup of activity began to discharge at a low frequency after the signal to make a saccade and the discharge continued until generation of the saccade. About one third of the saccade-related cells studied had a buildup of activity, and about three fourths of these cells also gave a burst of activity with the saccade in addition to the slow buildup of activity. 3. The buildup of activity seemed to be more closely related to preparation to make a saccade than to the generation of the saccade. The buildup developed even in cases when no saccade occurred. 4. The falling phase of the discharge of these saccade-related cells stopped with the end of the saccade (a clipped discharge), shortly after the end of the saccade (partially clipped), or long after the end of the saccade (unclipped). 5. Some cells had closed movement fields in which saccades that were substantially smaller or larger than the optimal amplitude were not associated with increased activity. Other cells tended to have open-ended movement fields without any peripheral border; they were active for all saccades of optimal direction whose amplitudes were equal to or greater than a given amplitude.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

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