Suryadeep Dash1, Xiaogang Yan2, Hongying Wang2, John Douglas Crawford3. 1. Center for Vision Research, York University, Room 0009, Lassonde Building, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada. Electronic address: suryadeep.dash@gmail.com. 2. Center for Vision Research, York University, Room 0009, Lassonde Building, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada. 3. Center for Vision Research, York University, Room 0009, Lassonde Building, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada; Departments of Psychology, Biology, and Kinesiology and Health Sciences, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada. Electronic address: jdc@yorku.ca.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Primates can remember and spatially update the visual direction of previously viewed objects during various types of self-motion. It is known that the brain "remaps" visual memory traces relative to gaze just before and after, but not during, discrete gaze shifts called saccades. However, it is not known how visual memory is updated during slow, continuous motion of the eyes. RESULTS: Here, we recorded the midbrain superior colliculus (SC) of two rhesus monkeys that were trained to spatially update the location of a saccade target across an intervening smooth pursuit (SP) eye movement. Saccade target location was varied across trials so that it passed through the neuron's receptive field at different points of the SP trajectory. Nearly all (99% of) visual responsive neurons, but no motor neurons, showed a transient memory response that continuously updated the saccade goal during SP. These responses were gaze centered (i.e., shifting across the SC's retinotopic map in opposition to gaze). Furthermore, this response was strongly enhanced by attention and/or saccade target selection. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first demonstration of continuous updating of visual memory responses during eye motion. We expect that this would generalize to other visuomotor structures when gaze shifts in a continuous, unpredictable fashion.
BACKGROUND: Primates can remember and spatially update the visual direction of previously viewed objects during various types of self-motion. It is known that the brain "remaps" visual memory traces relative to gaze just before and after, but not during, discrete gaze shifts called saccades. However, it is not known how visual memory is updated during slow, continuous motion of the eyes. RESULTS: Here, we recorded the midbrain superior colliculus (SC) of two rhesus monkeys that were trained to spatially update the location of a saccade target across an intervening smooth pursuit (SP) eye movement. Saccade target location was varied across trials so that it passed through the neuron's receptive field at different points of the SP trajectory. Nearly all (99% of) visual responsive neurons, but no motor neurons, showed a transient memory response that continuously updated the saccade goal during SP. These responses were gaze centered (i.e., shifting across the SC's retinotopic map in opposition to gaze). Furthermore, this response was strongly enhanced by attention and/or saccade target selection. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first demonstration of continuous updating of visual memory responses during eye motion. We expect that this would generalize to other visuomotor structures when gaze shifts in a continuous, unpredictable fashion.
Authors: Martijn J Schut; Jasper H Fabius; Nathan Van der Stoep; Stefan Van der Stigchel Journal: Atten Percept Psychophys Date: 2017-01 Impact factor: 2.199
Authors: Alex T L Leong; Celia M Dong; Patrick P Gao; Russell W Chan; Anthea To; Dan H Sanes; Ed X Wu Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2018-06-07 Impact factor: 4.379