Abstract
Visual stimulus presentation activates the oculomotor network without requiring a gaze shift. Here, we demonstrate that primate neck muscles are recruited during such reflexive covert orienting in a manner that parallels activity recorded from the superior colliculus (SC). Our results indicate the presence of a brainstem circuit whereby reflexive covert orienting is prevented from shifting gaze, but recruits neck muscles, predicting that similarities between SC and neck muscle activity should extend to other cognitive processes that are known to influence SC activity.
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Acknowledgements
We thank S. Everling, R. Flanagan, M. Goodale, R. Klein, S. Lomber, S. Musallam, S. Scott and the members of the Corneil and Munoz labs for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from the CIHR and the Human Frontier Science Program to B.D.C. and D.P.M. B.D.C. holds a CIHR New Investigator Award. D.P.M. holds a Canada Research Chair.
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B.D.C. and D.P.M. designed the experiments and co-wrote the paper. B.D.C., B.B.C. and T.A. collected and analyzed the experimental data. B.D.C., T.A. and S.L.C. implanted the neck muscle electrodes. B.B.C., T.A. and S.L.C. provided editorial comments throughout the writing process.
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Corneil, B., Munoz, D., Chapman, B. et al. Neuromuscular consequences of reflexive covert orienting. Nat Neurosci 11, 13–15 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn2023
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn2023
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