Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T16:00:04.792Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Saccadic eye movements evoked by electrical stimulation of the cat's visual cortex

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

James T. McIlwain
James T. McIlwain
Affiliation:
Section of Neurobiology, Division of Biology and Medicine, Brown University, Providence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Eye movements were recorded with the scleral search coil method while striate cortex (area 17) was stimulated in alert cats with their heads fixed. Regardless of where stimulation was applied in the retinotopic map, eye position at the onset of stimulation strongly affected the amplitudes of evoked saccades, but had much less influence on their directions. Application of long stimulus trains evoked repeated saccades at all sites tested. Highly convergent or goal-directed saccades were not observed. Cortically evoked saccades appeared to habituate with repeated stimulation and had higher thresholds and longer latencies that those reported for saccades evoked from the superior colliculus. The directions of cortically evoked saccades generally agreed with those predicted from the retinotopic coordinates of the stimulus sites, but saccade amplitudes were usually lower than expected. It is suggested that these findings are consistent with certain characteristics of eye-head coordination in the cat's normal visual orienting behavior. The results are difficult to reconcile with the hypothesis that goal-directed saccades are a normal response to targets outside the cat's oculomotor range.

Keywords

Superior colliculusStriate cortexGoal-directed saccadesOculomotor system
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , January 1988 , pp. 135 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bahill, A.T., Kallman, J.S. & Lieberman, J.E. (1982). Frequency limitations of two-point central difference differentiation algorithm. Biological Cybernetics 45, 1–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berson, D.M. & McIlwain, J.T. (1983). Visual cortical inputs to deep layers of cat's superior colliculus. Journal of Neurophysiology 50, 1143–1155.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blakemore, C. & Donaghy, M. (1980). Coordination of head and eyes in the gaze changing behavior of cats. Journal of Physiology 300, 317–335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brindley, G.S. & Lewin, W.S. (1968). The sensations produced by electrical stimulation of the visual cortex. Journal of Physiology 196, 479–493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collewijn, H. (1977). Gaze in freely moving subjects. In Control of Gaze by Brain Stem Neurons, ed. Baker, R. & Berthoz, A., pp. 13–22. Amsterdam: Elsevier/North-Holland.Google Scholar
Crommelinck, M., Guitton, D. & Roucoux, A. (1977). La position primaire de L&oeil en relation avec le champ oculomoteur chez le chat. Journal de Physiologie 73, 71A.Google Scholar
Edwards, S.B. (1980). The deep cell layers of the superior colliculus: their reticular characteristics and structural organization. In The Reticular Formation Revisited, ed. Hobson, J.A. & Brazier, M.A.B., pp. 193–209. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Fuchs, A.F. & Robinson, D.A. (1966). A method for measuring horizontal and vertical eye movements chronically in the monkey. Journal of Applied Physiology 21, 1068–1070.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fuller, J.H., Maldonado, H. & Schlag, J. (1983). Vestibularoculomotor interaction in cat eye-head movements. Brain Research 271, 241–250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garey, L.J., Jones, E.G. & Powell, T.P.S. (1968). Interrelationships of striate and extrastriate cortex with the primary relay sites of the visual pathway. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 31, 135–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guitton, D., Crommelinck, M. & Roucoux, A. (1980). Stimulation of the superior colliculus in the alert cat, I: Eye movements and neck EMG activity evoked when the head is restrained. Experimental Brain Research 39, 63–73.Google ScholarPubMed
Guitton, D., Douglas, R.M. & Volle, M. (1984). Eye-head coordination in cats. Journal of Neurophysiology 52, 1030–1050.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, L.R. (1980). The superior colliculus and movements of the head and eyes in cats. Journal of Physiology 300, 367–391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyde, J.E. & Eason, R.G. (1959). Characteristics of ocular movements evoked by stimulation of brain steam of cat. Journal of Neurophysiology 22, 666–678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judge, S.J., Richmond, B.J. & Chu, F.C. (1980). Implantation of magnetic search coils for measurement of eye position: an improved method. Vision Research 20, 535–538.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kawamura, K. (1973). Corticocortical fiber connections of the cat cerebrum, III: The occipital region. Brain Research 51, 41–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kawamura, S., Sprague, J.M. & Niimi, K. (1974). Corticofugal projections of cats studied by means of the anterograde degeneration method. Journal of Comparative Neurology 158, 339–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Konno, T. (1979). Patterns of organization of the corticotectal projections of cats studied by means of the anterograde degeneration method. Journal für Hirnforschung 20, 433–444.Google ScholarPubMed
McIlwain, J.T. (1986). Effects of eye position on saccades evoked electrically from superior colliculus of alert cats. Journal of Neurophysiology 55, 97–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ogasawara, K., McHaffie, J.G. & Stein, B.E. (1984). Two visual corticotectal systems in cat. Journal of Neurophysiology 52, 1226–1245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pettigrew, J.D., Cooper, M.L. & Blasdel, G.G. (1979). Improved use of tapetal reflection for eye-position monitoring. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 18, 490–495.Google ScholarPubMed
Robinson, D.A. (1972). Eye movements evoked by collicular stimulation in the alert monkey. Vision Research 12, 1765–1808.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roucoux, A. & Crommelinck, M. (1976). Eye movements evoked by superior colliculus stimulation in the alert cat. Brain Research 106, 349–363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roucoux, A., Guitton, D. & Crommelinck, M. (1980). Stimulation of the superior colliculus in the alert cat, II: Eye and head movements evoked when the head is unrestrained. Experimental Brain Research 39, 75–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Segal, R.L. & Beckstead, R.M. (1984). The lateral suprasylvian corticotectal projection in cats. Journal of Comparative Neurology 225, 259–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Segraves, M.A. & Goldberg, M.E. (1984). Initial orbital position affects the trajectories of large saccades evoked by electrical stimulation of the monkey superior colliculus. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts 10, 59.Google Scholar
Schiller, P.H. (1977). The effect of superior colliculus ablation on saccades elicited by cortical stimulation. Brain Research 122, 154–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiller, P.H. & Stryker, M. (1972). Single-unit recording and stimulation in superior colliculus of the alert rhesus monkey. Journal of Neurophysiology 35, 915–924.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spiegel, E.A. & Scala, N.P. (1937). Ocular disturbances associated with experimental lesions of the mesencephalic gray matter, with special reference to vertical ocular movements. Archives of Ophthalmology 18, 614–632.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stein, B.E., Goldberg, S.J. & Clamann, H.P. (1976). The control of eye movements by the superior colliculus in the alert cat. Brain Research 118, 469–474.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Straschill, M. & Rieger, P. (1973). Eye movements evoked by focal stimulation of the cat's superior colliculus. Brain Research 59, 211–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tusa, R.J., Palmer, L.A. & Rosenquist, A.C. (1978). The retinotopic organization of area 17 (striate cortex) in the cat. Journal of Comparative Neurology 177, 213–236.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Updyke, B.V. (1977). Topographic organization of the projections from cortical areas 17, 18, and 19 onto the thalamus, pretectum, and superior colliculus of the cat. Journal of Comparative Neurology 201, 477–506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vidal, P.P., Roucoux, A. & Berthoz, A. (1982). Horizontal eye position-related activity in neck muscles of alert cat. Experimental Brain Research 46, 448–453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed