Serial linkage of target selection for orienting and tracking eye movements.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
Many natural actions require the coordination of two different kinds of movements. How are targets chosen under these circumstances: do central commands instruct different movement systems in parallel, or does the execution of one movement activate a serial chain that automatically chooses targets for the other movement? We examined a natural eye tracking action that consists of orienting saccades and tracking smooth pursuit eye movements, and found strong physiological evidence for a serial strategy. Monkeys chose freely between two identical spots that appeared at different sites in the visual field and moved in orthogonal directions. If a saccade was evoked to one of the moving targets by microstimulation in either the frontal eye field (FEF) or the superior colliculus (SC), then the same target was automatically chosen for pursuit. Our results imply that the neural signals responsible for saccade execution can also act as an internal command of target choice for other movement systems.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Gardner, JL; Lisberger, SG
Published Date
- September 2002
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 5 / 9
Start / End Page
- 892 - 899
PubMed ID
- 12145637
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC2548313
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 1097-6256
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1038/nn897
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States