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J Neurophysiol (September 6, 2006). doi:10.1152/jn.00412.2006
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Submitted on April 18, 2006
Accepted on August 24, 2006

Preparatory gain modulation of visuomotor transmission for smooth pursuit eye movements in monkeys

Hiromitsu Tabata1*, Kenichiro Miura1, Masakatsu Taki2, Kiyoto Matsuura1, and Kenji Kawano1

1 Integrative Brain Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
2 Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: htabata{at}brain.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp.

It has been reported that the visuomotor processing underlying the initiation of smooth pursuit eye movement is modulated in relation to the recent experience of eye movements: the initial pursuit eye velocity is larger after experiencing repeated pursuits than saccades. To assess which parameters of the previously executed pursuits play an essential role in modulating the gain of visuomotor transmission, we recorded the ocular responses of monkeys to a brief perturbing motion of the tracking target injected prior to the start of the eye movements. First, we compared the perturbation responses among the blocks in which the duration of executing pursuit was varied. We found that the response amplitude increased with the increase of the pursuit duration, and it reached a plateau level at 100 - 200 ms of the duration. Second, a comparison of the perturbation responses in the blocks in which target velocity was different showed a gradual increase of the response as a function of the required pursuing velocity. Third, when the animals repeatedly performed pursuits, the response amplitude gradually increased with the increase of the interval between the appearance of the target and the onset of perturbation. On the other hand, such an increase was not observed when the animals repeatedly performed saccades. These results suggest that prior to initiating eye movements, the pursuit system modulates the gain of visuomotor transmission so as to be closely related to the properties of the repeatedly experienced eye movements, and this gain modulation is triggered by the target's appearance.




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H. Tabata, K. Miura, and K. Kawano
Trial-by-Trial Updating of the Gain in Preparation for Smooth Pursuit Eye Movement Based on Past Experience in Humans
J Neurophysiol, February 1, 2008; 99(2): 747 - 758.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




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