論文

査読有り
2014年7月

Activity of fixation neurons in the monkey frontal eye field during smooth pursuit eye movements

JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
  • Yoshiko Izawa
  • ,
  • Hisao Suzuki

112
2
開始ページ
249
終了ページ
262
記述言語
英語
掲載種別
研究論文(学術雑誌)
DOI
10.1152/jn.00816.2013
出版者・発行元
AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC

We recorded the activity of fixation neurons in the frontal eye field (FEF) in trained monkeys and analyzed their activity during smooth pursuit eye movements. Fixation neurons were densely located in the area of the FEF in the caudal part of the arcuate gyrus facing the inferior arcuate sulcus where focal electrical stimulation suppressed the generation of saccades and smooth pursuit in bilateral directions at an intensity lower than the threshold for eliciting electrically evoked saccades. Whereas fixation neurons discharged tonically during fixation, they showed a variety of discharge patterns during smooth pursuit, ranging from a decrease in activity to an increase in activity. Of these, more than two-thirds were found to show a reduction in activity during smooth pursuit in the ipsilateral and bilateral directions. The reduction in activity of fixation neurons began at pursuit initiation and continued during pursuit maintenance. When catch-up saccades during the initiation of pursuit were eliminated by a step-ramp target routine, the reduced activity of fixation neurons remained. The reduction in activity during pursuit was not dependent on the activity during fixation without a target. Based on these results, we discuss the role of the FEF at maintaining fixation in relation to various other brain areas. We suggest that fixation neurons in the FEF contribute to the suppression of smooth pursuit. These results suggest that FEF fixation neurons are part of a more generalized visual fixation system through which suppressive control is exerted on smooth pursuit, as well as saccades.

リンク情報
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00816.2013
Web of Science
https://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=JSTA_CEL&SrcApp=J_Gate_JST&DestLinkType=FullRecord&KeyUT=WOS:000339172500005&DestApp=WOS_CPL
ID情報
  • DOI : 10.1152/jn.00816.2013
  • ISSN : 0022-3077
  • eISSN : 1522-1598
  • Web of Science ID : WOS:000339172500005

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