CONDITIONING OF PYRAMIDAL ACTIVITY BY SENSORY INFLOW

University Of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

The long-term objective of this research is to study forebrain mechanisms responsible for the initiation of eye movements. During the present project period, the dynamics of cooperation between cortical oculomotor areas will be explored. Extracellular recordings from single neurons of the cerebral frontal and parietal lobes will be performed in alert monkeys. The neural signals will be analyzed in relation with eye and head movements measured by the magnetic search coil technique. The animals will be trained to acquire, pursue and anticipate visual targets presented on a screen in the dark and to search for visual cues. Single neuron activity will be monitored during reflex and voluntary movements. The aim is to understand how target location is encoded by the brain and how motor commands are derived to specify the goal of a targeting movement. Experiments will also be performed on human volunteers to examine the mechanisms of target localization near the time of ocular saccades.