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Linked target selection for saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Gardner, JL; Lisberger, SG
Published in: J Neurosci
March 15, 2001

In natural situations, motor activity must often choose a single target when multiple distractors are present. The present paper asks how primate smooth pursuit eye movements choose targets, by analysis of a natural target-selection task. Monkeys tracked two targets that started 1.5 degrees eccentric and moved in different directions (up, right, down, and left) toward the position of fixation. As expected from previous results, the smooth pursuit before the first saccade reflected a vector average of the responses to the two target motions individually. However, post-saccadic smooth eye velocity showed enhancement that was spatially selective for the motion at the endpoint of the saccade. If the saccade endpoint was close to one of the two targets, creating a targeting saccade, then pursuit was selectively enhanced for the visual motion of that target and suppressed for the other target. If the endpoint landed between the two targets, creating an averaging saccade, then post-saccadic smooth eye velocity also reflected a vector average of the two target motions. Saccades with latencies >200 msec were almost always targeting saccades. However, pursuit did not transition from vector-averaging to target-selecting until the occurrence of a saccade, even when saccade latencies were >300 msec. Thus, our data demonstrate that post-saccadic enhancement of pursuit is spatially selective and that noncued target selection for pursuit is time-locked to the occurrence of a saccade. This raises the possibility that the motor commands for saccades play a causal role, not only in enhancing visuomotor transmission for pursuit but also in choosing a target for pursuit.

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Published In

J Neurosci

DOI

EISSN

1529-2401

Publication Date

March 15, 2001

Volume

21

Issue

6

Start / End Page

2075 / 2084

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Saccades
  • Reaction Time
  • Pursuit, Smooth
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Motion Perception
  • Male
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Linear Models
 

Citation

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Gardner, J. L., & Lisberger, S. G. (2001). Linked target selection for saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements. J Neurosci, 21(6), 2075–2084. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-06-02075.2001
Gardner, J. L., and S. G. Lisberger. “Linked target selection for saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements.J Neurosci 21, no. 6 (March 15, 2001): 2075–84. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-06-02075.2001.
Gardner JL, Lisberger SG. Linked target selection for saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements. J Neurosci. 2001 Mar 15;21(6):2075–84.
Gardner, J. L., and S. G. Lisberger. “Linked target selection for saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements.J Neurosci, vol. 21, no. 6, Mar. 2001, pp. 2075–84. Pubmed, doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-06-02075.2001.
Gardner JL, Lisberger SG. Linked target selection for saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements. J Neurosci. 2001 Mar 15;21(6):2075–2084.

Published In

J Neurosci

DOI

EISSN

1529-2401

Publication Date

March 15, 2001

Volume

21

Issue

6

Start / End Page

2075 / 2084

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Saccades
  • Reaction Time
  • Pursuit, Smooth
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Motion Perception
  • Male
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Linear Models