scholarly journals The effects of reversible inactivation of Frontal Eye Field and Superior Colliculus on saccade target selection

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 694-694
Author(s):  
R. M McPeek ◽  
E. L Keller
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Saccade Target ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Reversible Inactivation ◽  
Eye Field

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 Modulation of Presaccadic Activity in the Frontal Eye Field by the Superior Colliculus

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (6) ◽  
pp. 2934-2942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca A. Berman ◽  
Wilsaan M. Joiner ◽  
James Cavanaugh ◽  
Robert H. Wurtz
Keyword(s):  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Visual Response ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movement ◽  
Reversible Inactivation ◽  
Intermediate Layers ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Neuronal Processing

A cascade of neuronal signals precedes each saccadic eye movement to targets in the visual scene. In the cerebral cortex, this neuronal processing culminates in the frontal eye field (FEF), where neurons have bursts of activity before the saccade. This presaccadic activity is typically considered to drive downstream activity in the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus (SC), which receives direct projections from FEF. Consequently, the FEF activity is thought to be determined solely by earlier cortical processing and unaffected by activity in the SC. Recent evidence of an ascending path from the SC to FEF raises the possibility, however, that presaccadic activity in the FEF may also depend on input from the SC. Here we tested this possibility by recording from single FEF neurons during the reversible inactivation of SC. Our results indicate that presaccadic activity in the FEF does not require SC input: we never observed a significant reduction in FEF presaccadic activity when the SC was inactivated. Unexpectedly, in a third of experiments, SC inactivation elicited a significant increase in FEF presaccadic activity. The passive visual response of FEF neurons, in contrast, was virtually unaffected by inactivation of the SC. These findings show that presaccadic activity in the FEF does not originate in the SC but nevertheless may be influenced by modulatory signals ascending from the SC.

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 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.

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 mechanisms of speed-accuracy tradeoff of visual search: saccade vigor, the origin of targeting errors, and comparison of the superior colliculus and frontal eye field

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 372-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Reppert ◽  
Mathieu Servant ◽  
Richard P. Heitz ◽  
Jeffrey D. Schall
Keyword(s):  
Visual Search ◽  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Visual Responses ◽  
Response Preparation ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Neurophysiological Mechanisms ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
Accuracy Tradeoff

Balancing the speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) is necessary for successful behavior. Using a visual search task with interleaved cues emphasizing speed or accuracy, we recently reported diverse contributions of frontal eye field (FEF) neurons instantiating salience evidence and response preparation. Here, we report replication of visual search SAT performance in two macaque monkeys, new information about variation of saccade dynamics with SAT, extension of the neurophysiological investigation to describe processes in the superior colliculus (SC), and a description of the origin of search errors in this task. Saccade vigor varied idiosyncratically across SAT conditions and monkeys but tended to decrease with response time. As observed in the FEF, speed-accuracy tradeoff was accomplished through several distinct adjustments in the superior colliculus. In “Accurate” relative to “Fast” trials, visually responsive neurons in SC as in FEF had lower baseline firing rates and later target selection. The magnitude of these adjustments in SC was indistinguishable from that in FEF. Search errors occurred when visual salience neurons in the FEF and the SC treated distractors as targets, even in the Accurate condition. Unlike FEF, the magnitude of visual responses in the SC did not vary across SAT conditions. Also unlike FEF, the activity of SC movement neurons when saccades were initiated was equivalent in Fast and Accurate trials. Saccade-related neural activity in SC, but not FEF, varied with saccade peak velocity. These results extend our understanding of the cortical and subcortical contributions to SAT. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Neurophysiological mechanisms of speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) have only recently been investigated. This article reports the first replication of SAT performance in nonhuman primates, the first report of variation of saccade dynamics with SAT, the first description of superior colliculus contributions to SAT, and the first description of the origin of errors during SAT. These results inform and constrain new models of distributed decision making.

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.

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