Neural basis of saccade target selection in frontal eye field during visual search

Nature ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 366 (6454) ◽  
pp. 467-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey D. Schall ◽  
Doug P. Hanes
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Eye Field

scholarly journals Neural Basis of the Set-Size Effect in Frontal Eye Field: Timing of Attention During Visual Search

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 1699-1704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah Y. Cohen ◽  
Richard P. Heitz ◽  
Geoffrey F. Woodman ◽  
Jeffrey D. Schall
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Set Size ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Recorded Activity

Visual search for a target object among distractors often takes longer when more distractors are present. To understand the neural basis of this capacity limitation, we recorded activity from visually responsive neurons in the frontal eye field (FEF) of macaque monkeys searching for a target among distractors defined by form (randomly oriented T or L). To test the hypothesis that the delay of response time with increasing number of distractors originates in the delay of attention allocation by FEF neurons, we manipulated the number of distractors presented with the search target. When monkeys were presented with more distractors, visual target selection was delayed and neuronal activity was reduced in proportion to longer response time. These findings indicate that the time taken by FEF neurons to select the target contributes to the variation in visual search efficiency.

scholarly journals Frontal Eye Field Activity Before Visual Search Errors Reveals the Integration of Bottom-Up and Top-Down Salience

2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 337-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk G. Thompson ◽  
Narcisse P. Bichot ◽  
Takashi R. Sato
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Singleton Search ◽  
Eye Field

We investigated the saccade decision process by examining activity recorded in the frontal eye field (FEF) of monkeys performing 2 separate visual search experiments in which there were errors in saccade target choice. In the first experiment, the difficulty of a singleton search task was manipulated by varying the similarity between the target and distractors; errors were made more often when the distractors were similar to the target. On catch trials in which the target was absent the monkeys occasionally made false alarm errors by shifting gaze to one of the distractors. The second experiment was a popout color visual search task in which the target and distractor colors switched unpredictably across trials. Errors occurred most frequently on the first trial after the switch and less often on subsequent trials. In both experiments, FEF neurons selected the saccade goal on error trials, not the singleton target of the search array. Although saccades were made to the same stimulus locations, presaccadic activation and the magnitude of selection differed across trial conditions. The variation in presaccadic selective activity was accounted for by the variation in saccade probability across the stimulus–response conditions, but not by variations in saccade metrics. These results suggest that FEF serves as a saccade probability map derived from the combination of bottom-up and top-down influences. Peaks on this map represent the behavioral relevance of each item in the visual field rather than just reflecting saccade preparation. This map in FEF may correspond to the theoretical salience map of many models of attention and saccade target selection.

scholarly journals Sequential Operations Revealed by Serendipitous Feature Selectivity in Frontal Eye Field

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaleb A. Lowe ◽  
Jeffrey D. Schall
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Search Task ◽  
Visual Search Task ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Stimulus Orientation ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Feature Selectivity ◽  
Selection Indexes

ABSTRACTNeurons in macaque frontal eye field contribute to spatial but typically not feature selection during visual search. Using an innovative visual search task, we report a serendipitous discovery that some frontal eye field neurons can develop rapid selectivity for stimulus orientation that is used to guide gaze during a visual search task with pro-saccade and anti-saccade responses. This feature selectivity occurs simultaneously at multiple locations for all objects sharing that feature and coincides with when neurons select the singleton of a search array. This feature selectivity also reveals the distinct, subsequent operation of selecting the endpoint of the saccade in pro-saccade as well as anti-saccade trials. These results demonstrate that target selection preceding saccade preparation is composed of multiple operations. We conjecture that singleton selection indexes the allocation of attention, which can be divided, to conspicuous items. Consequently, endpoint selection indexes the focused allocation of attention to the endpoint of the saccade. These results demonstrate that saccade target selection is not a unitary process.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTFrontal eye field is well known to contribute to spatial selection for attention and eye movements. We discovered that some frontal eye field neurons can acquire selectivity for stimulus orientation when it guides visual search. The chronometry of neurons with and without feature selectivity reveal distinct operations accomplishing visual search.

scholarly journals Salience by Competitive and Recurrent Interactions: Bridging Neural Spiking and Computation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Edward Cox ◽  
Thomas Palmeri ◽  
Gordon D. Logan ◽  
Philip L. Smith ◽  
Jeffrey Schall
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Interaction Model ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Visual Neurons ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Neural Spiking ◽  
Eye Field

Decisions about where to move the eyes depend on neurons in Frontal Eye Field (FEF). Movement neurons in FEF accumulate salience evidence derived from FEF visual neurons to select the location of a saccade target among distractors. How visual neurons achieve this salience representation is unknown. We present a neuro-computational model of target selection called Salience by Competitive and Recurrent Interactions (SCRI), based on the Competitive Interaction model of attentional selection and decision making (Smith & Sewell, 2013). SCRI selects targets by synthesizing localization and identification information to yield a dynamically evolving representation of salience across the visual field. SCRI accounts for neural spiking of individual FEF visual neurons, explaining idiosyncratic differences in neural dynamics with specific parameters. Many visual neurons resolve the competition between search items through feedforward inhibition between signals representing different search items, some also require lateral inhibition, and many act as recurrent gates to modulate the incoming flow of information about stimulus identity. SCRI was tested further by using simulated spiking representations of visual salience as input to the Gated Accumulator Model of FEF movement neurons (Purcell et al., 2010; Purcell, Schall, Logan, & Palmeri, 2012). Predicted saccade response times fit those observed for search arrays of different set size and different target-distractor similarity, and accumulator trajectories replicated movement neuron discharge rates. These findings offer new insights into visual decision making through converging neuro-computational constraints and provide a novel computational account of the diversity of FEF visual neurons.

scholarly journals Shape Selectivity in Primate Frontal Eye Field

2008 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 796-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinmiao Peng ◽  
Margaret E. Sereno ◽  
Amanda K. Silva ◽  
Sidney R. Lehky ◽  
Anne B. Sereno
Keyword(s):  
Functional Organization ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Shape Selectivity ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Gaze Shift ◽  
Match To Sample ◽  
Neurophysiological Studies ◽  
Eye Field

Previous neurophysiological studies of the frontal eye field (FEF) in monkeys have focused on its role in saccade target selection and gaze shift control. It has been argued that FEF neurons indicate the locations of behaviorally significant visual stimuli and are not inherently sensitive to specific features of the visual stimuli per se. Here, for the first time, we directly examined single cell responses to simple, two-dimensional shapes and found that shape selectivity exists in a substantial number of FEF cells during a passive fixation task or during the sample, delay (memory), and eye movement periods in a delayed match to sample (DMTS) task. Our data demonstrate that FEF neurons show sensory and mnemonic selectivity for stimulus shape features whether or not they are behaviorally significant for the task at hand. We also investigated the extent and localization of activation in the FEF using a variety of shape stimuli defined by static or dynamic cues employing functional magentic resonance imaging (fMRI) in anesthetized and paralyzed monkeys. Our fMRI results support the electrophysiological findings by showing significant FEF activation for a variety of shape stimuli and cues in the absence of attentional and motor processing. This shape selectivity in FEF is comparable to previous reports in the ventral pathway, inviting a reconsideration of the functional organization of the visual system.

scholarly journals Saccade target selection in frontal eye field of macaque. I. Visual and premovement activation

1995 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 6905-6918 ◽  
Author(s):  
JD Schall ◽  
DP Hanes ◽  
KG Thompson ◽  
DJ King
Keyword(s):  
Target Selection ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Eye Field

scholarly journals Predictive Activity in Macaque Frontal Eye Field Neurons During Natural Scene Searching

2010 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 1238-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam N. Phillips ◽  
Mark A. Segraves
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Early Time ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Natural Scenes ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Intermediate Time ◽  
And Performance

Generating sequences of multiple saccadic eye movements allows us to search our environment quickly and efficiently. Although the frontal eye field cortex (FEF) has been linked to target selection and making saccades, little is known about its role in the control and performance of the sequences of saccades made during self-guided visual search. We recorded from FEF cells while monkeys searched for a target embedded in natural scenes and examined the degree to which cells with visual and visuo-movement activity showed evidence of target selection for future saccades. We found that for about half of these cells, activity during the fixation period between saccades predicted the next saccade in a sequence at an early time that precluded selection based on current visual input to a cell's response field. In addition to predicting the next saccade, activity during the fixation prior to two successive saccades also predicted the direction and goal of the second saccade in the sequence. We refer to this as advanced predictive activity. Unlike activity indicating the upcoming saccade, advanced predictive activity occurred later in the fixation period, mirroring the order of the saccade sequence itself. The remaining cells without advanced predictive activity did not predict future saccades but reintroduced the signal for the upcoming saccade at an intermediate time in the fixation period. Together these findings suggest that during natural visual search the timing of FEF cell activity is consistent with a role in specifying targets for one or more future saccades in a search sequence.

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