Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Naveen Sendhilnathan, Debaleena Basu, Michael E. Goldberg, Jeffrey D. Schall, Aditya Murthy
Summary: The study revealed unexpected differences in neural signatures for goal-directed versus non-goal-directed movements in a brain area selectively implicated in voluntary control, adding critical constraints to the way we think about saccade generation in the brain.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Koorosh Mirpour, James W. Bisley
Summary: The lateral intraparietal area (LIP) provides a stable map integrating task rules and stimulus identity, while the frontal eye field (FEF) is consistently modulated by more complex information but integrates all information just before the saccade to make the final decision on where to move the eye.
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Alexia Bourgeois, Virginie Sterpenich, Giannina Rita Iannotti, Patrik Vuilleumier
Summary: The study found that reward cues can selectively modulate the Frontal Eye Field (FEF) during attentional shifts, especially after high-predictive cueing to invalid locations. Reward information also modulated FEF connectivity to superior colliculus, striatum, and visual cortex.
Article
Cell Biology
Ricardo Kienitz, Kleopatra Kouroupaki, Michael C. Schmid
Summary: This study provides evidence that local microstimulation in the V4 area can improve behavior and reduce luminance detection thresholds, highlighting the critical role of V4 in attention.
Article
Neurosciences
Clara Bourrelly, Corentin Massot, Neeraj J. Gandhi
Summary: Sensorimotor transformation is the process of sensing and responding to stimuli, and this study investigates the neural activity in the superior colliculus during visually guided eye movements. The study compares spike bursts and local field potential (LFP) modulations along the dorsoventral axis of the superior colliculus and finds a transition from sensory to motor response in both signals, with the LFP transition occurring deeper than the spike burst transition. The results suggest a fast and efficient transformation between LFP modulation and spike burst during sensation, but not during action.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Joshua A. Seideman, Terrence R. Stanford, Emilio Salinas
Summary: The study shows that spatial selection in LIP is distinct from, and may even conflict with, evidence accumulation during saccadic choices. This finding is important for understanding the guidance mechanisms of eye movements.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Robert M. McPeek
Summary: Neurons governing saccadic eye movements multiplex signals related to sensation, cognition, and movement. A new study reveals that the initiation of saccade is controlled by the temporal stability of rising population activity.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Valentina Barone, Maria Carla Piastra, Johannes P. van Dijk, Gerhard H. Visser, Mariette H. J. A. Debeij-van Hall, Michel J. A. M. van Putten
Summary: This study investigates the differences in cognitive and eye movement processes during seizures in pediatric patients with absences. It reveals that the involvement of the right frontal eye field is higher in patients with impaired eye movements compared to those with preserved eye movements during seizures. This finding has clinical significance for assessing visual attention in epilepsy patients and providing personalized advice.
CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Acoustics
Kaleb A. Lowe, Wolf Zinke, M. Anthony Phipps, Josh Cosman, Micala Maddox, Jeffrey D. Schall, Charles F. Caskey
Summary: Research on focused ultrasound (FUS) stimulation directly applied over the macaque frontal eye field (FEF) through a craniotomy revealed that FUS can modulate saccadic responses in monkeys, affecting their saccade response times and error rates. FUS was found to have a regulatory effect on directing eye movements towards targets in visual search tasks.
ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Udo A. Ernst, Xiao Chen, Lisa Bohnenkamp, Fingal Orlando Galashan, Detlef Wegener
Summary: The brain must be able to process sudden changes in visual scenes independently for quick and reliable detection. Neurons in the motion-selective area MT exhibit complex, non-linear behavior in response to speed changes, driven by temporal dynamics of excitation and divisive inhibition. Attention increases the steepness of the neuronal transient response regardless of the activation state prior to stimulus change, facilitating faster and more reliable reactions to attended events.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Neel Fotedar, Prasannakumar Gajera, Nataliya Pyatka, Salam Nasralla, Takafumi Kubota, Guadalupe Fernandez-Baca Vaca, Aasef G. Shaikh, Hans O. Luders
Summary: In this study, we observed the characteristics of eye and head movements during versive seizures. The results showed that in the majority of cases, the eye movements were rapid and predominantly upward. The deviation of the head was closely associated with the deviation of the eyes, and facial movement on the same side was also observed. These findings provide important information about the localization efficacy of version in seizures.
SEIZURE-EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EPILEPSY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Pragya Pandey, Supriya Ray
Summary: The pupils reflexively constrict or dilate to regulate the influx of light on the retinae. Pupillary light reflex (PLR) is influenced by non-visual cognitive processes, such as attentional orientation and the planning of rapid eye movements. The study found a negative correlation between the rate of visually evoked pupil constriction and saccadic reaction time (SRT), suggesting a potential relationship between pupil dynamics, activity in the frontal eye field (FEF) and superior colliculus (SC), and saccadic decision-making.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Jing Jia, Zhen Puyang, Qingjun Wang, Xin Jin, Aihua Chen
Summary: The frontal eye field (FEF) exhibits different response patterns during sequential saccades, which are context-dependent and dynamically changing. Pharmacological inactivation of FEF has a negative impact on the performance of learned sequential saccades in monkeys.
JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Azadeh Feizpour, Piotr Majka, Tristan A. Chaplin, Declan Rowley, Hsin-Hao Yu, Elizabeth Zavitz, Nicholas S. C. Price, Marcello G. P. Rosa, Maureen A. Hagan
Summary: The marmoset monkey is emerging as a new primate model for neurophysiology research, with advantages in accessing various physiological techniques due to its lissencephalic cortex. Research on the visual behavior circuitry in marmosets is ongoing, with evidence of brisk visual responses in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This suggests that the marmoset model may provide valuable insights into the study of visuomotor cognition.
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Panagiotis Sapountzis, Sofia Paneri, Sotirios Papadopoulos, Georgia G. Gregoriou
Summary: Recent work has shown that neural representations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are changing to adapt to task demands, but it is still unclear how this dynamic coding depends on the encoded variable and anatomical constraints. In this study, using a cued attention task and multivariate classification methods, the researchers found that neuronal ensembles in the PFC encode and retain spatial and color attentional instructions in a specific manner. Spatial instructions were decoded from both the frontal eye field (FEF) and the ventrolateral PFC (vlPFC) populations, while color instructions were decoded more robustly from vlPFC. The results suggest that dynamic population coding of attentional instructions in the PFC is influenced by anatomical constraints and can coexist with stable subspace coding.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chih-Yang Chen, Alla Ignashchenkova, Peter Thier, Ziad M. Hafed
Article
Neurosciences
Akshay Markanday, Julian Messner, Peter Thier
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2018)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Marc Junker, Dominik Endres, Zong Peng Sun, Peter W. Dicke, Martin Giese, Peter Thier
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mohammad Farhan Khazali, Hamidreza Ramezanpour, Peter Thier
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2020)
Letter
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Marius Goerner, Hamidreza Ramezanpour, Ian Chong, Peter Thier
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2020)
Article
Neurosciences
P. M. Kraemer, M. Gorner, H. Ramezanpour, P. W. Dicke, P. Thier
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Joana Staeb, Uwe J. Ilg
Summary: This study examined the correlation between playing video games and numerical cognition, finding that video game players showed better sensory precision in numerical estimation compared to non-players, with a positive correlation with weekly gaming time. The superiority of video game players in number processing is likely due to general differences in the attentional system, particularly top-down attentional processes in the dorsal attention network, rather than specific differences in neuronal processing underlying numerical cognition.
Article
Biology
Nick Taubert, Michael Stettler, Ramona Siebert, Silvia Spadacenta, Louisa Sting, Peter Dicke, Peter Thier, Martin A. Giese
Summary: The study found that human observers were able to quickly learn cross-species expressions, indicating that face dynamics are largely represented independently of facial shape. This result supports the co-evolution of visual processing and motor control of facial expressions, while challenging appearance-based neural network theories of dynamic expression recognition.
Article
Neurosciences
Hamidreza Ramezanpour, Marius Gorner, Peter Thier
Summary: Recent studies have shown that neuronal discharge variability in the gaze-following patch (GFP) of the primate brain is related to task performance and can predict upcoming correct or wrong decisions, indicating that variability in neuronal discharge is an informative measure in the study of complex social behaviors. The quenching of neural variability and the relationship between task selectivity, firing rates, and variability quenching in the GFP region suggest that both firing rates and variability quenching play a role in facilitating optimal behavioral performance.
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Oleg Spivak, Peter Thier, Shabtai Barash
Summary: The study examines the impact of prior training experience on sensorimotor behavior in monkeys. Monkeys habituated to working in dark environments displayed a significantly larger upshift in gaze direction compared to those habituated in bright light. This suggests that the size of the upshift reflects long-term cumulative experience, indicating a relationship between the function of the upshift and vision in dark environments.
Letter
Neurosciences
Akshay Markanday, Junya Inoue, Paul Vialkowitsch, Peter Thier
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
M. S. Breu, H. Ramezanpour, P. W. Dicke, P. Thier
Summary: Gaze following is a crucial aspect of non-verbal communication and plays a significant role in successful social interactions. This study utilized event-related fMRI to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the cognitive control of gaze following. The findings suggest that overactivation of frontoparietal circuits might contribute to deficits in gaze following observed in clinical populations.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Akshay Markanday, Sungho Hong, Junya Inoue, Erik De Schutter, Peter Thier
Summary: The study shows that the cerebellum's ability for multidimensional computations allows it to flexibly control multiple movement parameters to ensure movement precision.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Mohammad Farhan Khazali, Nabil Daddaoua, Peter Thier
Summary: When humans tilt their heads in the dark, the noise in vestibular information makes it difficult to accurately report the orientation of objects with respect to Earth's vertical axis. This difficulty can be reduced if there is a vertical visual background. Tilted visual backgrounds create the illusion of head tilt. A study found that monkeys also have similar perceptual mechanisms.
JOURNAL OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Experimental
David J. Mack, Helene Wiesmann, Uwe J. Ilg