Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol 39, Issue 4 766-772, Copyright © 1976 by APS

ARTICLES

Enhancement of visual responses in monkey striate cortex and frontal eye fields

R. H. Wurtz and C. W. Mohler

1. We have studied the visual enhancement effect in two areas of the cerebral cortex of monkeys. The response of the cells to a visual stimulus was determined both when the monkey used the visual stimulus as the target for a saccadic eye movement and when he did not. 2. In striate cortex cells with nonoriented, simple, complex, and hypercomplex receptive-field types were studied. Clear enhancement of the response to the appropriate visual stimulus was seldom seen when the monkey used the stimulus as a target for a saccade. In addition, any enhancement effect seen was nonselective; it occurred whether the monkey made a saccade to the receptive-field stimulus or some other stimulus at a point distant from the receptive field. The enhancement also occurred whether the monkey made a saccade to the stimulus or just released the bar when the stimulus dimmed. 3. This nonselective enhancement in striate cortex is in striking contrast to the selective enhancement of the visual response seen in the superior colliculus. The different characteristics of the enhancement in striate cortex and the observation of enhancement in the colliculus following ablation of striate cortex suggest that this cortical area is an unlikely source of the collicular enhancement. 4. These observations reinforce the distinction between striate cortex and superior colliculus. Striate cortex is an excellent analyzer of stimulus characteristics but a poor evaluator of stimulus significance. The superior colliculus is an excellent evaluator but a poor analyzer. 5. The area of frontal eye fields in which cells have clear visual responses has been better localized. Enhancement of the visual response of these cells also occurs and, at least for some cells, the response enhancement is selective. The response enhancement, like the visual properties of these frontal eye field cells, appears to be more closely related to the properties of superior colliculus cells than to striate cortex cells.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Kastner, K. DeSimone, C. S. Konen, S. M. Szczepanski, K. S. Weiner, and K. A. Schneider Topographic Maps in Human Frontal Cortex Revealed in Memory-Guided Saccade and Spatial Working-Memory Tasks J Neurophysiol, May 1, 2007; 97(5): 3494 - 3507. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. J. Tehovnik, W. M. Slocum, C. E. Carvey, and P. H. Schiller Phosphene Induction and the Generation of Saccadic Eye Movements by Striate Cortex J Neurophysiol, January 1, 2005; 93(1): 1 - 19. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Izawa, H. Suzuki, and Y. Shinoda Suppression of Visually and Memory-Guided Saccades Induced by Electrical Stimulation of the Monkey Frontal Eye Field. I. Suppression of Ipsilateral Saccades J Neurophysiol, October 1, 2004; 92(4): 2248 - 2260. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Super, C. van der Togt, H. Spekreijse, and V. A. F. Lamme Correspondence of presaccadic activity in the monkey primary visual cortex with saccadic eye movements PNAS, March 2, 2004; 101(9): 3230 - 3235. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Sommer and R. H. Wurtz What the Brain Stem Tells the Frontal Cortex. I. Oculomotor Signals Sent From Superior Colliculus to Frontal Eye Field Via Mediodorsal Thalamus J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2004; 91(3): 1381 - 1402. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Sommer and R. H. Wurtz Frontal Eye Field Sends Delay Activity Related to Movement, Memory, and Vision to the Superior Colliculus J Neurophysiol, April 1, 2001; 85(4): 1673 - 1685. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. L. Sheinberg and N. K. Logothetis Noticing Familiar Objects in Real World Scenes: The Role of Temporal Cortical Neurons in Natural Vision J. Neurosci., February 15, 2001; 21(4): 1340 - 1350. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				O. Hikosaka, Y. Takikawa, and R. Kawagoe Role of the Basal Ganglia in the Control of Purposive Saccadic Eye Movements Physiol Rev, July 1, 2000; 80(3): 953 - 978. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Everling and D. P. Munoz Neuronal Correlates for Preparatory Set Associated with Pro-Saccades and Anti-Saccades in the Primate Frontal Eye Field J. Neurosci., January 1, 2000; 20(1): 387 - 400. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. C. Dias and M. A. Segraves Muscimol-Induced Inactivation of Monkey Frontal Eye Field: Effects on Visually and Memory-Guided Saccades J Neurophysiol, May 1, 1999; 81(5): 2191 - 2214. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. I. Posner and C. D. Gilbert Attention and primary visual cortex PNAS, March 16, 1999; 96(6): 2585 - 2587. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Corbetta Frontoparietal cortical networks for directing attention and the eye to visual locations: Identical, independent, or overlapping neural systems? PNAS, February 3, 1998; 95(3): 831 - 838. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. P. Hanes, W. F. Patterson II, and J. D. Schall Role of Frontal Eye Fields in Countermanding Saccades: Visual, Movement, and Fixation Activity J Neurophysiol, February 1, 1998; 79(2): 817 - 834. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. M. Umeno and M. E. Goldberg Spatial Processing in the Monkey Frontal Eye Field. I. Predictive Visual Responses J Neurophysiol, September 1, 1997; 78(3): 1373 - 1383. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. G. Thompson, N. P. Bichot, and J. D. Schall Dissociation of Visual Discrimination From Saccade Programming in Macaque Frontal Eye Field J Neurophysiol, February 1, 1997; 77(2): 1046 - 1050. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. H. R. Maunsell The Brain's Visual World: Representation of Visual Targets in Cerebral Cortex Science, November 3, 1995; 270(5237): 764 - 769. [Abstract] [PDF]

				C.L. Colby The Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology of Attention J Child Neurol, January 1, 1991; 6(1_suppl): S90 - S118. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Moore and M. Fallah Control of eye movements and spatial attention PNAS, January 30, 2001; 98(3): 1273 - 1276. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]