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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 99/5/2479    most recent 01112.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by Walton, M. M. G. Articles by Gandhi, N. J. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Walton, M. M. G. Articles by Gandhi, N. J.

Effect of Reversible Inactivation of Superior Colliculus on Head Movements

¹Departments of Otolaryngology, ²Neuroscience, and ³Bioengineering and ⁴Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Submitted 8 October 2007; accepted in final form 20 February 2008

Because of limitations in the oculomotor range, many gaze shifts must be accomplished using coordinated movements of the eyes and head. Stimulation and recording data have implicated the primate superior colliculus (SC) in the control of these gaze shifts. The precise role of this structure in head movement control, however, is not known. The present study uses reversible inactivation to gain insight into the role of this structure in the control of head movements, including those that accompany gaze shifts and those that occur in the absence of a change in gaze. Forty-five lidocaine injections were made in two monkeys that had been trained on a series of behavioral tasks that dissociate movements of the eyes and head. Reversible inactivation resulted in clear impairments in the animals’ ability to perform gaze shifts, manifested by increased reaction times, lower peak velocities, and increased durations. In contrast, comparable effects were not found for head movements (with or without gaze shifts) with the exception of a very small increase in reaction times of head movements associated with gaze shifts. Eye-head coordination was clearly affected by the injections with gaze onset occurring relatively later with respect to head onset. Following the injections, the head contributed slightly more to the gaze shift. These results suggest that head movements (with and without gaze shifts) can be controlled by pathways that do not involve SC.

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