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  • 1
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Superior colliculus ; Microstimulation ; Gaze saccades ; Tecto-reticulo-spinal neurons ; Fixation ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract In our previous paper we demonstrated that electrical microstimulation of the fixation area at the rostral pole of the cat superior colliculus (SC) elicits no gaze movement but, rather, transiently suppresses eye-head gaze saccades. In this paper, we investigated the more caudal region of the SC and its interaction with the fixation area. In the alert head-free cat, supra-threshold stimulation in the anterior portion of the SC but outside the fixation area evoked small saccadic shifts of gaze consisting mainly of an eye movement, the head's contribution being small. Stimulating more posteriorly elicited large gaze saccades consisting of an ocular saccade combined with a rapid head movement. At these latter stimulation sites, craniocentric (goal-directed) eye movements were evoked when the cat's head was restrained. The amplitude of eye-head gaze saccades elicited at a particular stimulation site increased with stimulus duration, current strength, and pulse rate, until a constant or “unit” value was reached. The peak velocity of gaze shifts depended on both pulse rate and current strength. The movement direction was not affected by stimulus parameters. The unit gaze vector evoked, in the head-free condition, by stimulating one collicular site was similar to that coded by efferent neurons recorded at that site, thereby indicating a retinotopically coded gaze error representation on the collicular motor map which is not revealed by stimulating the head-fixed animal. Evoked gaze saccades were found to be influenced by fixation behavior. The amplitude of evoked gaze shifts was reduced if stimulation occurred when the hungry animal fixated a food target. Electrical activation of the collicular fixation area was found to mimic well the effects of natural fixation on evoked gaze shifts. Taken together, our results support the view that the overall distribution and level of collicular activity contributes to the encoding of the metrics of gaze saccades. We suggest that the combined levels of activity at the site being stimulated and at the fixation area influence the amplitude of evoked gaze saccades through competition. When stimulation is at low intensities, fixation-related activity reduces the amplitude of evoked gaze saccades. At high activation levels, the site being stimulated dominates and the gaze vector is specified only by that site's collicular output neurons, from which arises the close correspondence between the unit-evoked gaze saccades and the neurally coded gaze vector at that site.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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  • 2
    Electronic Resource
    Electronic Resource
    Springer
    Experimental brain research 106 (1995), S. 509-512 
    ISSN: 1432-1106
    Keywords: Eye movement ; Smooth pursuit ; Cat
    Source: Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
    Topics: Medicine
    Notes: Abstract It is generally accepted that in cats smooth pursuit velocity of the eye never exceeds a few degrees per second. This is in contrast with observations in primates, where smooth pursuit velocity can reach values as high as 100°/s. Cats were trained to fixate and pursue spots of light appearing on a translucent screen. Spots were moved in the horizontal and vertical planes at different constant velocities up to 80°/s. Eye position was recorded with the sclerai search coil technique. Naive cats did not pursue moving targets with high efficiency. Smooth eye movement velocity saturated at 5°/s. After a few days of training, smooth-pursuit eye velocity increased with target velocity and saturated at 25°/s on average. However, velocities twice as high have been observed frequently. When the target was unexpectedly extinguished, smooth eye movement velocity dropped to values close to 0°/s in approximately 350 ms. After a short training period (usually 5 times the same target presentation), the eye continued to move smoothly until the target reappeared. These data suggest that smooth pursuit eye movements of the cat are qualitatively similar to those of primates, but reach lower velocities and are more variable in their characteristics.
    Type of Medium: Electronic Resource
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