Effect of a central fixation light on auditory spatial responses in area LIP.

A recent report demonstrated that, while fixating a central light, lateral intraparietal area (LIP) neurons are not modulated by the location of auditory stimuli until monkeys learn to saccade to the location of an auditory stimulus. This finding suggests that auditory spatial responses in area LIP are dependent on auditory-saccadic training. We found that, in monkeys that had not been trained to make behavioral responses to auditory stimuli, LIP neurons are modulated by auditory-stimulus location when a central light is not present in the environment. These results indicate that LIP auditory responses are not wholly dependent on behavioral training with auditory stimuli.