Express-saccades of the monkey: effect of daily training on probability of occurrence and reaction time

Exp Brain Res. 1984;55(2):232-42. doi: 10.1007/BF00237274.

Abstract

Two monkeys learned to make saccadic eye movements from a central fixation point to a peripheral target, when there was a temporal gap between fixation point offset and target onset. Under these conditions the animals made saccades after extremely short reaction times (less than 100 ms), so called express-saccades. With ongoing training the rate of occurrence increased (10 to 1005) and the reaction time of the express-saccades decreased (95 to 75 ms). The training effects were mediated by the amount of previously executed express-saccades and they were also spatially selective for express-saccades to that target position that had been used during training. The training effects on the express-saccades can be saturated after less than 7 days of daily training and are reversible after another 7 days of no training. The results indicate the existence of a fast-operating visuo-to-oculomotor pathway which can be quickly and reversibly modified by daily exercise.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Efferent Pathways / physiology
  • Eye Movements*
  • Female
  • Fixation, Ocular*
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Motor Neurons / physiology
  • Reaction Time / physiology*
  • Retina / physiology
  • Saccades*
  • Visual Fields
  • Visual Pathways / physiology