Superior colliculus cell types and models of saccade generation

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Abstract

Recent experiments on the cat and monkey have revealed several different cell types within the superior colliculus, including fixation, burst, and build up cells. During primate saccades, activity remains fixed at one location in burst cells, but spreads across the colliculus in build up cells. New models based on the activity of these cell types suggest their functional roles in saccade generation.

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      Simultaneous activation of ipsiversive and contraversive gaze shifting signals. In the monkey superior colliculus, fixation cells and saccade-related cells (burst neurons) reciprocally inhibit each other (Wurtz and Optican, 1994), and the threshold current required for eliciting saccades from the frontal eye field (FEF) is increased if the animal actively fixates a visual target (Goldberg et al., 1986). Consequently, any decreased activity in the fixation system before saccade triggering significantly reduces saccade latencies, a phenomenon responsible for the gap effect (Weber and Fischer, 1995; Dorris et al., 1997).

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