Nature Neuroscience7, 56 - 64 (2003)
Published online: 21 December 2003; | doi:10.1038/nn1169
Neuron-specific contribution of the superior colliculus to overt and covert shifts of attention
Alla Ignashchenkova1, Peter W Dicke1, Thomas Haarmeier1, 2
& Peter Thier1
1
Department of Cognitive Neurology, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tuebingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 3, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany.
2
Department of General Neurology, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tuebingen, Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 3, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany.
The analysis of a peripheral visual location can be improved in two ways: either by orienting one's gaze (usually by making a foveating saccade) or by 'covertly' shifting one's attention to the peripheral location without making an eye movement. The premotor theory of attention holds that saccades and spatial shifts of attention share a common functional module with a distinct neuronal basis. Using single-unit recording from the brains of trained rhesus monkeys, we investigated whether the superior colliculus, the major subcortical center for the control of saccades, is part of this shared network for attention and saccades. Here we show that a distinct type of neuron in the intermediate layer of the superior colliculus, the visuomotor neuron, which is known to be centrally involved in the preparation of saccades, is also active during covert shifts of attention.
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