The locus of motor activity in the superior colliculus of the rhesus monkey is unaltered during saccadic adaptation.

The location of motor-related activity in the deeper layers of the superior colliculus (SC) is thought to generate a desired displacement command specifying the amplitude and direction of saccadic eye movements. However, the amplitude of saccadic eye movements made to visual targets can be systematically altered by surreptitiously moving the target location after the saccade has been initiated. Depending on whether the target is moved closer to or further from the fixation location, adaptation of saccade amplitude results in movements that are either smaller or larger than control movements. It remains an open question whether the SC specifies the desired movement to the original target location or whether SC activity specifies the vector of the amplitude-altered movement that is observed as adaptation progresses. We investigated this question by recording the activity of saccade-related burst neurons in the SC of head-restrained rhesus monkeys during both backward and forward saccadic adaptation. During adaptation in each direction, we find no evidence that is consistent with a change in the locus of SC activity despite changes in saccade amplitude; the location of SC motor-related activity does not appear to be remapped during either forward or backward saccadic adaptation. These data are inconsistent with hypotheses that propose a key role for the SC in mediating the changes in saccade amplitude observed during adaptation.