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Functional imaging of the primate superior colliculus during saccades to visual targets

Nature Neuroscience volume 4, pages 1026–1031 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

The primate superior colliculus (SC) is a midbrain nucleus crucial for the control of rapid eye movements (saccades). Its neurons are topographically arranged over the rostrocaudal and mediolateral extent of its deeper layers so that saccade metrics (amplitude and direction) are coded in terms of the location of active neurons. We used the quantitative [14C]-deoxyglucose method to obtain a map of the two-dimensional pattern of activity throughout the SC of rhesus monkeys repeatedly executing visually guided saccades of the same amplitude and direction for the duration of the experiment. Increased metabolic activity was confined to a circumscribed region of the two-dimensional reconstructed map of the SC contralateral to the direction of the movement. The precise rostrocaudal and mediolateral location of the area activated depended on saccade metrics. Our data support the notion that the population of active SC cells remains stationary in collicular space during saccades.

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Figure 1: Functional imaging of saccade-related activation in SC.
Figure 2: SC activation depends on saccade metrics.
Figure 3: Functional imaging of the representation of the horizontal meridian in the intermediate layers of the SC.
Figure 4: Functional imaging of the superficial tectal layers.

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Acknowledgements

The technical assistance of M. Koumaki and the financial support of BIO4-CT98-0546 are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FO.R.T.H.),

    A. K. Moschovakis, G. G. Gregoriou & H. E. Savaki

  2. Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Crete, PO Box 1393, 711 10 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    A. K. Moschovakis, G. G. Gregoriou & H. E. Savaki

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  1. A. K. Moschovakis
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  3. H. E. Savaki
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Correspondence to A. K. Moschovakis.

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Moschovakis, A., Gregoriou, G. & Savaki, H. Functional imaging of the primate superior colliculus during saccades to visual targets. Nat Neurosci 4, 1026–1031 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn727

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