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An area for vergence eye movement in primate frontal cortex

Nature volume 407, pages 1003–1007 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

To view objects at different distances, humans rely on vergence eye movements to appropriately converge or diverge the eyes and on ocular accommodation to focus the object1,2. Despite the importance of these coordinated eye movements (the ‘near response’) very little is known about the role of the cerebral cortex in their control. As near-response neurons exist within the nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis3, which receives input from the frontal eye field region of frontal cortex4,5,6, and this cortical region is known to be involved in saccadic7,8,9 and smooth-pursuit eye movements10,11,12, we propose that a nearby region might play a role in vergence and ocular accommodation. Here we provide evidence from rhesus monkeys that a region of frontal cortex located immediately anterior to the saccade-related frontal eye field region is involved in vergence and ocular accommodation, and in the sensorimotor transformations required for these eye movements. We conclude that the macaque frontal cortex is involved in the control of all voluntary eye movements, and suggest that the definition of the frontal eye fields should be expanded to include this region.

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Figure 1: Response properties of a prearcuate vergence-related neuron.
Figure 2: Response properties of a prearcuate visuo-vergence neuron.
Figure 3: Effects of electrical microstimulation at the site of a convergence-related neuron.
Figure 4: Location of near- and far-response neurons.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Hayley and K. Winston for assistance. This work was supported by the National Eye Institute.

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  1. Vision Science Research Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham, 35294, Alabama, USA

    Paul D. Gamlin & Kyunghee Yoon

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  1. Paul D. Gamlin
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  2. Kyunghee Yoon
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Correspondence to Paul D. Gamlin.

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Gamlin, P., Yoon, K. An area for vergence eye movement in primate frontal cortex. Nature 407, 1003–1007 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35039506

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