Neck muscle activity reflects neural patterns of sequential saccade planning in head-restrained primates

Abstract

Gaze shifts, brought about by coordinated eye-head movements through the eye and neck muscle system, are a part of everyday behavior, yet the neuromuscular underpinnings of gaze sequences are unclear. Using a combination of behavioral analyses, neural recordings, and electromyographic recordings, we show that sequential saccade plans developing in neural oculomotor centers can be extracted from the neck muscle activity of head-restrained macaques. Neck motor units, thus provide a readout of central sequence planning signals.