fMRI-Guided TMS on Cortical Eye Fields: The Frontal But Not Intraparietal Eye Fields Regulate the Coupling Between Visuospatial Attention and Eye Movements

2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 3469-3480 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. M. Van Ettinger-Veenstra ◽  
W. Huijbers ◽  
T. P. Gutteling ◽  
M. Vink ◽  
J. L. Kenemans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Visual Image ◽  
Single Pulse ◽  
Visuospatial Attention ◽  
Movement Direction ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
And Shifts

It is well known that parts of a visual scene are prioritized for visual processing, depending on the current situation. How the CNS moves this focus of attention across the visual image is largely unknown, although there is substantial evidence that preparation of an action is a key factor. Our results support the view that direct corticocortical feedback connections from frontal oculomotor areas to the visual cortex are responsible for the coupling between eye movements and shifts of visuospatial attention. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)–guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to the frontal eye fields (FEFs) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS). A single pulse was delivered 60, 30, or 0 ms before a discrimination target was presented at, or next to, the target of a saccade in preparation. Results showed that the known enhancement of discrimination performance specific to locations to which eye movements are being prepared was enhanced by early TMS on the FEF contralateral to eye movement direction, whereas TMS on the IPS resulted in a general performance increase. The current findings indicate that the FEF affects selective visual processing within the visual cortex itself through direct feedback projections.

TMS Pulses on the Frontal Eye Fields Break Coupling Between Visuospatial Attention and Eye Movements

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 2765-2778 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.F.W. Neggers ◽  
W. Huijbers ◽  
C. M. Vrijlandt ◽  
B.N.S. Vlaskamp ◽  
D.J.L.G. Schutter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Visuospatial Attention ◽  
Movement Direction ◽  
Frontal Eye Fields ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Saccade Preparation

While preparing a saccadic eye movement, visual processing of the saccade goal is prioritized. Here, we provide evidence that the frontal eye fields (FEFs) are responsible for this coupling between eye movements and shifts of visuospatial attention. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)–guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to the FEFs 30 ms before a discrimination target was presented at or next to the target of a saccade in preparation. Results showed that the well-known enhancement of discrimination performance on locations to which eye movements are being prepared was diminished by TMS contralateral to eye movement direction. Based on the present and other reports, we propose that saccade preparatory processes in the FEF affect selective visual processing within the visual cortex through feedback projections, in that way coupling saccade preparation and visuospatial attention.

Spatial and temporal dynamics of visual processing during movement preparation: ERP evidence from adults with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Jose van Velzen
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Developmental Coordination Disorder ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
The Body ◽  
Action Perception ◽  
Group Experiences ◽  
Coordination Disorder

Experimental evidence has shown that the actions we intend to perform influence the way our visual system processes information in the environment, consistent with the considerable overlap observed between brain circuits involved in action and attention. Conceptual thinking about action-perception links in cognitive science is heavily influenced by earlier work that has established that motor preparation causes a shift of attention to the goal of a movement. This sensory enhancement is characterised on a behavioural level by improved detection and discrimination performance at that location, and neurally by larger responses in visual cortex to stimuli presented there. In a series of experiments we examined electrophysiological visual cortex responses (ERPs) to task-irrelevant visual probe stimuli presented at various locations in movement space during preparation of manual reaching movements. The data from these experiments show simultaneous enhanced visual processing of stimuli at the location of the effector about to perform the movement and at the goal of the movement. Further, our data demonstrates that compared to controls, adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder show a markedly different pattern of enhanced visual processing during preparation of more complex reaching movement, i.e., across the body midline. This suggests a specific difficulty in this group in recruiting appropriate preparatory visual mechanism for manual movements, which may be related to the difficulties this group experiences in their daily life.

scholarly journals Mouse visual cortex contains a region of enhanced spatial resolution

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Enny H. van Beest ◽  
Sreedeep Mukherjee ◽  
Lisa Kirchberger ◽  
Ulf H. Schnabel ◽  
Chris van der Togt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Receptive Fields ◽  
Single Neurons ◽  
Two Photon ◽  
Representation Of Space ◽  
Freely Moving ◽  
Mapping Techniques ◽  
Mouse Visual Cortex

AbstractThe representation of space in mouse visual cortex was thought to be relatively uniform. Here we reveal, using population receptive-field (pRF) mapping techniques, that mouse visual cortex contains a region in which pRFs are considerably smaller. This region, the “focea,” represents a location in space in front of, and slightly above, the mouse. Using two-photon imaging we show that the smaller pRFs are due to lower scatter of receptive-fields at the focea and an over-representation of binocular regions of space. We show that receptive-fields of single-neurons in areas LM and AL are smaller at the focea and that mice have improved visual resolution in this region of space. Furthermore, freely moving mice make compensatory eye-movements to hold this region in front of them. Our results indicate that mice have spatial biases in their visual processing, a finding that has important implications for the use of the mouse model of vision.

scholarly journals Perceptual restoration fails to recover unconscious processing for smooth eye movements after occipital stroke

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunwoo Kwon ◽  
Krystel R. Huxlin ◽  
Jude F. Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual System ◽  
Motion Perception ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Conscious Perception ◽  
Stroke Patients ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Unconscious Processing

AbstractVisual pathways that guide actions do not necessarily mediate conscious perception. Patients with primary visual cortex (V1) damage lose conscious perception but often retain unconscious abilities (e.g. blindsight). Here, we asked if saccade accuracy and post-saccadic following responses (PFRs) that automatically track target motion upon saccade landing are retained when conscious perception is lost. We contrasted these behaviors in the blind and intact fields of 8 chronic V1-stroke patients, and in 8 visually-intact controls. Saccade accuracy was relatively normal in all cases. Stroke patients also had normal PFR in their intact fields, but no PFR in their blind fields. Thus, V1 damage did not spare the unconscious visual processing necessary for automatic, post-saccadic smooth eye movements. Importantly, visual training that recovered motion perception in the blind field did not restore the PFR, suggesting a clear dissociation between pathways mediating perceptual restoration and automatic actions in the V1-damaged visual system.

scholarly journals Is covert spatial orienting embodied or disembodied cognition? A historical review

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond M Klein
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Embodied Cognition ◽  
Historical Review ◽  
Visuospatial Attention ◽  
Endogenous Control ◽  
Spatial Orienting ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Attention Shifts

The possible relations between eye movements and shifts of attention are considered in the context of the contemporary proposal of embodied cognition. The focus of this historical review is Klein’s oculomotor readiness hypothesis for how visuospatial attention might be allocated when under endogenous control. When eye movements are actually executed, attention shifts in advance of these movements. But when eye movements are prepared but not executed, shifts of attention are not observed. Conversely, when attention is allocated endogenously and covertly to a location in space, eye movements to that location are not prepared. These findings suggest that covert spatial orienting when under endogenous control is more dis-embodied than embodied cognition.

scholarly journals Encoding of 3D Head Orienting Movements in Primary Visual Cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grigori Guitchounts ◽  
Javier Masis ◽  
Steffen BE Wolff ◽  
David Cox
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Efference Copy ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Movement Direction ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Cortical Dynamics ◽  
Specific Manner

AbstractAnimals actively sample from the sensory world by generating complex patterns of movement that evolve in three dimensions. At least some of these movements have been shown to influence neural codes in sensory areas. For example, in primary visual cortex (V1), locomotion-related neural activity influences sensory gain, encodes running speed, and predicts the direction of visual flow. As most experiments exploring movement-related modulation of V1 have been performed in head-fixed animals, it remains unclear whether or how the naturalistic movements used to interact with sensory stimuli– like head orienting–influence visual processing. Here we show that 3D head orienting movements modulate V1 neuronal activity in a direction-specific manner that also depends on the presence or absence of light. We identify two largely independent populations of movement-direction-tuned neurons that support this modulation, one of which is direction-tuned in the dark and the other in the light. Finally, we demonstrate that V1 gains access to a motor efference copy related to orientation from secondary motor cortex, which has been shown to control head orienting movements. These results suggest a mechanism through which sensory signals generated by purposeful movement can be distinguished from those arising in the outside world, and reveal a pervasive role of 3D movement in shaping sensory cortical dynamics.

scholarly journals The influence of surround suppression on adaptation effects in primary visual cortex

2012 ◽  
Vol 107 (12) ◽  
pp. 3370-3384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie C. Wissig ◽  
Adam Kohn
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Receptive Field ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Orientation Tuning ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Specific Suppression ◽  
Neurophysiological Studies ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Adaptation Effects

Adaptation, the prolonged presentation of stimuli, has been used to probe mechanisms of visual processing in physiological, imaging, and perceptual studies. Previous neurophysiological studies have measured adaptation effects by using stimuli tailored to evoke robust responses in individual neurons. This approach provides an incomplete view of how an adapter alters the representation of sensory stimuli by a population of neurons with diverse functional properties. We implanted microelectrode arrays in primary visual cortex (V1) of macaque monkeys and measured orientation tuning and contrast sensitivity in populations of neurons before and after prolonged adaptation. Whereas previous studies in V1 have reported that adaptation causes stimulus-specific suppression of responsivity and repulsive shifts in tuning preference, we have found that adaptation can also lead to response facilitation and shifts in tuning toward the adapter. To explain this range of effects, we have proposed and tested a simple model that employs stimulus-specific suppression in both the receptive field and the spatial surround. The predicted effects on tuning depend on the relative drive provided by the adapter to these two receptive field components. Our data reveal that adaptation can have a much richer repertoire of effects on neuronal responsivity and tuning than previously considered and suggest an intimate mechanistic relationship between spatial and temporal contextual effects.

Visual Attention and Manual Aiming: Evidence for Obligatory and Selective Spatial Coupling

Perception ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 34-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Deubel ◽  
W X Schneider ◽  
I Paprotta
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Selective Attention ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Manual Aiming ◽  
Goal Object ◽  
Spatial Coupling

We recently demonstrated that visual attention before saccadic eye movements is focused on the saccade target, allowing for spatially selective object recognition (Deubel and Schneider Vision Research in press). Here we investigate the role of visual selective attention in the preparation of aiming hand movements. The interaction of visual attention and manual aiming was studied in a dual-task paradigm that required manual pointing to a target in combination with a letter discrimination task. Subjects were asked to keep fixation in the centre of a screen. Upon offset of a central cue, they had to aim, with unseen hand, to locations within horizontal letter strings left or right from the central fixation; movements were registered with a Polhemus FastTrack system. The ability to discriminate between the symbol “E” and its mirror image presented tachistoscopically within the surrounding distractors was taken as the measure of visual attention. The results reveal that discrimination performance is far superior when the discrimination stimulus is also the target for manual aiming; when discrimination stimulus and pointing target refer to different objects, performance deteriorates. We conclude that it is not possible to maintain attention on a stimulus while directing a manual movement to a spatially separate object. Rather, our results argue for an obligatory and selective coupling of visual attention and movement programming, just as found for saccadic eye movements. This is consistent with a model of visual attention (proposed by Schneider) in which a unitary attention mechanism selects a goal object for visual processing, and simultaneously provides the information necessary for goal-directed motor action such as saccades, pointing, and grasping.

scholarly journals Dose-dependent enhancement of motion direction discrimination with transcranial magnetic stimulation of visual cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Lucia Gamboa Arana ◽  
Hannah Palmer ◽  
Moritz Dannhauer ◽  
Connor Hile ◽  
Sicong Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Dose Response ◽  
Visual Processing ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Single Pulse ◽  
Motion Direction ◽  
Onset Condition

AbstractDespite the widespread use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in research and clinical care, the underlying mechanisms-of-actions that mediate modulatory effects remain poorly understood. To fill this gap, we studied dose–response functions of TMS for modulation of visual processing. Our approach combined electroencephalography (EEG) with application of single pulse TMS to visual cortex as participants performed a motion perception task. During participants’ first visit, motion coherence thresholds, 64-channel visual evoked potentials (VEPs), and TMS resting motor thresholds (RMT) were measured. In second and third visits, single pulse TMS was delivered 30 ms before the onset of motion or at the onset latency of the N2 VEP component derived from the first session. TMS was delivered at 0%, 80%, 100%, or 120% of RMT over the site of N2 peak activity, or at 120% over vertex. Behavioral results demonstrated a significant main effect of TMS timing on accuracy, with better performance when TMS was applied at N2-Onset timing versus Pre-Onset, as well as a significant interaction, indicating that 80% intensity produced higher accuracy than other conditions. TMS effects on VEPs showed reduced amplitudes in the 80% Pre-Onset condition, an increase for the 120% N2-Onset condition, and monotonic amplitude scaling with stimulation intensity. The N2 component was not affected by TMS. These findings reveal dose–response relationships between intensity and timing of TMS on visual perception and electrophysiological brain activity, generally indicating greater facilitation at stimulation intensities below RMT.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document