HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 92/2/949    most recent 00830.2003v1 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 Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (7) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Krauzlis, R. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Krauzlis, R. J.

Activity of Rostral Superior Colliculus Neurons During Passive and Active Viewing of Motion

Systems Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037

Submitted 25 August 2003; accepted in final form 15 March 2004

The superior colliculus (SC) has long been known to be important for the control of saccades, and recent findings indicate that the rostral SC (rSC) plays some role in pursuit as well. The recent finding that the prelude activity of some SC neurons exhibits directional selectivity suggests that the rSC might process visual motion signals relevant for the control of pursuit. We have now tested the activity of buildup neurons in the rSC during the passive viewing of motion stimuli placed within their response field and also during the previewing of visual motion stimuli that were subsequently tracked with pursuit eye movements. We found that rSC buildup neurons typically responded well to motion stimuli, but that they exhibited essentially no selectivity for the direction or speed of visual motion, and that they also responded well to stationary flickering dots. However, during the previewing of visual motion prior to the onset of pursuit, many neurons did exhibit a buildup of activity similar to that exhibited before saccades. These results are inconsistent with the notion that the rSC mediates visual motion signals used to drive pursuit, but instead support the idea that visual motion signals can be used by rSC neurons as part of a mechanism for selecting targets for pursuit and saccades.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				V. Reyes-Puerta, R. Philipp, W. Lindner, L. Lunenburger, and K.-P. Hoffmann Influence of Task Predictability on the Activity of Neurons in the Rostral Superior Colliculus During Double-Step Saccades J Neurophysiol, June 1, 2009; 101(6): 3199 - 3211. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. A. Schneider and S. Kastner Effects of Sustained Spatial Attention in the Human Lateral Geniculate Nucleus and Superior Colliculus J. Neurosci., February 11, 2009; 29(6): 1784 - 1795. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. M. Hafed and R. J. Krauzlis Goal Representations Dominate Superior Colliculus Activity during Extrafoveal Tracking J. Neurosci., September 17, 2008; 28(38): 9426 - 9439. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. J. Krauzlis The Control of Voluntary Eye Movements: New Perspectives Neuroscientist, April 1, 2005; 11(2): 124 - 137. [Abstract] [PDF]

				B. Adeyemo and D. E. Angelaki Similar Kinematic Properties for Ocular Following and Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2005; 93(3): 1710 - 1717. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]