Visual responses of pulvinar and collicular neurons during eye movements of awake, trained macaques. 1991

D L Robinson, and J W McClurkin, and C Kertzman, and S E Petersen
Section on Visual Behavior, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.

1. We recorded from single neurons in awake, trained rhesus monkeys in a lighted environment and compared responses to stimulus movement during periods of fixation with those to motion caused by saccadic or pursuit eye movements. Neurons in the inferior pulvinar (PI), lateral pulvinar (PL), and superior colliculus were tested. 2. Cells in PI and PL respond to stimulus movement over a wide range of speeds. Some of these cells do not respond to comparable stimulus motion, or discharge only weakly, when it is generated by saccadic or pursuit eye movements. Other neurons respond equivalently to both types of motion. Cells in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus have similar properties to those in PI and PL. 3. When tested in the dark to reduce visual stimulation from the background, cells in PI and PL still do not respond to motion generated by eye movements. Some of these cells have a suppression of activity after saccadic eye movements made in total darkness. These data suggest that an extraretinal signal suppresses responses to visual stimuli during eye movements. 4. The suppression of responses to stimuli during eye movements is not an absolute effect. Images brighter than 2.0 log units above background illumination evoke responses from cells in PI and PL. The suppression appears stronger in the superior colliculus than in PI and PL. 5. These experiments demonstrate that many cells in PI and PL have a suppression of their responses to stimuli that cross their receptive fields during eye movements. These cells are probably suppressed by an extraretinal signal. Comparable effects are present in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus. These properties in PI and PL may reflect the function of the ascending tectopulvinar system.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008253 Macaca mulatta A species of the genus MACACA inhabiting India, China, and other parts of Asia. The species is used extensively in biomedical research and adapts very well to living with humans. Chinese Rhesus Macaques,Macaca mulatta lasiota,Monkey, Rhesus,Rhesus Monkey,Rhesus Macaque,Chinese Rhesus Macaque,Macaca mulatta lasiotas,Macaque, Rhesus,Rhesus Macaque, Chinese,Rhesus Macaques,Rhesus Macaques, Chinese,Rhesus Monkeys
D008297 Male Males
D009474 Neurons The basic cellular units of nervous tissue. Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. Their purpose is to receive, conduct, and transmit impulses in the NERVOUS SYSTEM. Nerve Cells,Cell, Nerve,Cells, Nerve,Nerve Cell,Neuron
D010775 Photic Stimulation Investigative technique commonly used during ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY in which a series of bright light flashes or visual patterns are used to elicit brain activity. Stimulation, Photic,Visual Stimulation,Photic Stimulations,Stimulation, Visual,Stimulations, Photic,Stimulations, Visual,Visual Stimulations
D003213 Conditioning, Psychological Simple form of learning involving the formation, strengthening, or weakening of an association between a stimulus and a response. Conditioning, Psychology,Psychological Conditioning,Social Learning Theory,Social Learning Theories,Theory, Social Learning
D003624 Darkness The absence of light. Darknesses
D005133 Eye Movements Voluntary or reflex-controlled movements of the eye. Eye Movement,Movement, Eye,Movements, Eye
D005260 Female Females
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D012438 Saccades An abrupt voluntary shift in ocular fixation from one point to another, as occurs in reading. Pursuit, Saccadic,Saccadic Eye Movements,Eye Movement, Saccadic,Eye Movements, Saccadic,Movement, Saccadic Eye,Movements, Saccadic Eye,Pursuits, Saccadic,Saccade,Saccadic Eye Movement,Saccadic Pursuit,Saccadic Pursuits

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