Visual motion processing for the initiation of smooth-pursuit eye movements in humans

Author:

Tychsen L.,Lisberger S. G.

Abstract

We have used the initiation of pursuit eye movements as a tool to reveal properties of motion processing in the neural pathways that provide inputs to the human pursuit system. Horizontal and vertical eye position were recorded with a magnetic search coil in six normal adults. Stimuli were provided by individual trials of ramp target motion. Analysis was restricted to the first 100 ms of eye movement, which precedes the onset of corrective feedback. By recording the transient response to target motion at speeds the pursuit motor system can achieve, we investigated the visual properties of images that initiate pursuit. We have found effects of varying the retinal location, the direction, the velocity, the intensity, and the size of the stimulus. Eye acceleration in the first 100 ms of pursuit depended on both the direction of target motion and the initial position of the moving target. For horizontal target motion, eye acceleration was highest if the stimulus was close to the center of the visual field and moved toward the vertical meridian. For vertical target motion, eye acceleration was highest when the stimulus moved upward or downward within the lower visual field. The shape of the relationship between eye acceleration and initial target position was similar for target velocities ranging from 1.0 to 45 degrees/s. The initiation of pursuit showed two components that had different visual properties and were expressed early and late in the first 100 ms of pursuit. In the first 20 ms, instantaneous eye acceleration was in the direction of target motion but did not depend on other visual properties of the stimulus. At later times (e.g., 80-100 ms after pursuit initiation), instantaneous eye acceleration was strongly dependent on each property we tested. Targets that started close to and moved toward the position of fixation evoked the highest eye accelerations. For high-intensity targets, eye acceleration increased steadily as target velocity increased. For low-intensity targets, eye acceleration was selective for target velocities of 30-45 degrees/s. The properties of pursuit initiation in humans, including the differences between the early and late components, are remarkably similar to those reported by Lisberger and Westbrook (12) in monkeys. Our data provide evidence that the cell populations responsible for motion processing are similar in humans and monkeys and imply that the functional organization of the visual cortex is similar in the two species.

Publisher

American Physiological Society

Subject

Physiology,General Neuroscience

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3