Skip to main content

What the brain stem tells the frontal cortex. II. Role of the SC-MD-FEF pathway in corollary discharge.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Sommer, MA; Wurtz, RH
Published in: Journal of neurophysiology
March 2004

One way we keep track of our movements is by monitoring corollary discharges or internal copies of movement commands. This study tested a hypothesis that the pathway from superior colliculus (SC) to mediodorsal thalamus (MD) to frontal eye field (FEF) carries a corollary discharge about saccades made into the contralateral visual field. We inactivated the MD relay node with muscimol in monkeys and measured corollary discharge deficits using a double-step task: two sequential saccades were made to the locations of briefly flashed targets. To make second saccades correctly, monkeys had to internally monitor their first saccades; therefore deficits in the corollary discharge representation of first saccades should disrupt second saccades. We found, first, that monkeys seemed to misjudge the amplitudes of their first saccades; this was revealed by systematic shifts in second saccade end points. Thus corollary discharge accuracy was impaired. Second, monkeys were less able to detect trial-by-trial variations in their first saccades; this was revealed by reduced compensatory changes in second saccade angles. Thus corollary discharge precision also was impaired. Both deficits occurred only when first saccades went into the contralateral visual field. Single-saccade generation was unaffected. Additional deficits occurred in reaction time and overall performance, but these were bilateral. We conclude that the SC-MD-FEF pathway conveys a corollary discharge used for coordinating sequential saccades and possibly for stabilizing vision across saccades. This pathway is the first elucidated in what may be a multilevel chain of corollary discharge circuits extending from the extraocular motoneurons up into cerebral cortex.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Journal of neurophysiology

DOI

EISSN

1522-1598

ISSN

0022-3077

Publication Date

March 2004

Volume

91

Issue

3

Start / End Page

1403 / 1423

Related Subject Headings

  • Visual Pathways
  • Visual Fields
  • Vision, Ocular
  • Superior Colliculi
  • Sleep Stages
  • Saccades
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Muscimol
  • Motor Neurons
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Sommer, M. A., & Wurtz, R. H. (2004). What the brain stem tells the frontal cortex. II. Role of the SC-MD-FEF pathway in corollary discharge. Journal of Neurophysiology, 91(3), 1403–1423. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00740.2003
Sommer, Marc A., and Robert H. Wurtz. “What the brain stem tells the frontal cortex. II. Role of the SC-MD-FEF pathway in corollary discharge.Journal of Neurophysiology 91, no. 3 (March 2004): 1403–23. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00740.2003.
Sommer MA, Wurtz RH. What the brain stem tells the frontal cortex. II. Role of the SC-MD-FEF pathway in corollary discharge. Journal of neurophysiology. 2004 Mar;91(3):1403–23.
Sommer, Marc A., and Robert H. Wurtz. “What the brain stem tells the frontal cortex. II. Role of the SC-MD-FEF pathway in corollary discharge.Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 91, no. 3, Mar. 2004, pp. 1403–23. Epmc, doi:10.1152/jn.00740.2003.
Sommer MA, Wurtz RH. What the brain stem tells the frontal cortex. II. Role of the SC-MD-FEF pathway in corollary discharge. Journal of neurophysiology. 2004 Mar;91(3):1403–1423.

Published In

Journal of neurophysiology

DOI

EISSN

1522-1598

ISSN

0022-3077

Publication Date

March 2004

Volume

91

Issue

3

Start / End Page

1403 / 1423

Related Subject Headings

  • Visual Pathways
  • Visual Fields
  • Vision, Ocular
  • Superior Colliculi
  • Sleep Stages
  • Saccades
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Muscimol
  • Motor Neurons