JN Information on EB 2010
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


J Neurophysiol (March 12, 2008). doi:10.1152/jn.01379.2007
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental Figure and Tables
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
99/5/2602    most recent
01379.2007v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Van Horn, M. R
Right arrow Articles by Cullen, K. E
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Van Horn, M. R
Right arrow Articles by Cullen, K. E
Submitted on December 20, 2007
Accepted on March 11, 2008

The Brainstem Saccadic Burst Generator Encodes Gaze in Three Dimensional Space

Marion R Van Horn1, Pierre Alexandre Sylvestre2, and Kathleen E Cullen1*

1 Physiology, McGill, Montreal, Canada
2 Physiology, McGill, Montreal, Canada; Monteal, Canada

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kathleen.cullen{at}mcgill.ca.

When we look between objects located at different depths the horizontal movement of each eye is different from the other, yet temporally synchronized. Traditionally, a vergence-specific neuronal subsystem, independent from other oculomotor subsystems, has been thought to generate all eye movements in depth. However, recent studies have challenged this view by unmasking interactions between vergence and saccadic eye movements during disconjugate saccades. Here, we combined experimental and modeling approaches to address whether the premotor command to generate disconjugate saccades originates exclusively in "vergence centers". We found that the brainstem burst generator, which is commonly assumed to drive only the conjugate component of eye movements, carries substantial vergence-related information during disconjugate saccades. Notably, facilitated vergence velocities during disconjugate saccades were synchronized with the burst onset of excitatory and inhibitory brainstem saccadic burst neurons (SBNs). Furthermore, the time-varying discharge properties of the majority of SBNs (>70%) preferentially encoded the dynamics of an individual eye during disconjugate saccades. When these experimental results were implemented into a computer-based simulation, to further evaluate the contribution of the brainstem saccadic burst generator in generating disconjugate saccades, we found that it carries all the vergence drive that is necessary to shape the activity of the abducens motoneurons to which it projects. Taken together, our results provide evidence that the premotor commands from the brainstem saccadic circuitry, to its target motoneurons, is sufficient to ensure the accurate control shifts of gaze in three dimensions.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
J. Neurophysiol.Home page
M. R. Van Horn and K. E. Cullen
Dynamic Characterization of Agonist and Antagonist Oculomotoneurons During Conjugate and Disconjugate Eye Movements
J Neurophysiol, July 1, 2009; 102(1): 28 - 40.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Neurophysiol.Home page
M. R. Van Horn and K. E. Cullen
Dynamic Coding of Vertical Facilitated Vergence by Premotor Saccadic Burst Neurons
J Neurophysiol, October 1, 2008; 100(4): 1967 - 1982.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Visit Other APS Journals Online
Copyright © 2008 by the The American Physiological Society.