Xiao Quan, Barborica Andrei, Ferrera Vincent P
Columbia University, Department of Psychiatry, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, David Mahoney Center for Brain and Behavior Research, New York, New York 10032, USA.
Vis Neurosci. 2006 Jan-Feb;23(1):49-60. doi: 10.1017/S0952523806231055.
The visual responsiveness and spatial tuning of frontal eye field (FEF) neurons were determined using a delayed memory saccade task. Neurons with visual responses were then tested for direction selectivity using moving random dot patterns centered in the visual receptive field. The preferred axis of motion showed a significant tendency to be aligned with the receptive-field location so as to favor motion toward or away from the center of gaze. Centrifugal (outward) motion was preferred over centripetal motion. Motion-sensitive neurons in FEF thus appear to have a direction bias at the population level. This bias may facilitate the detection or discrimination of expanding optic flow patterns. The direction bias is similar to that seen in visual area MT and in posterior parietal cortex, from which FEF receives afferent projections. The outward motion bias may explain asymmetries in saccades made to moving targets. A representation of optic flow in FEF might be useful for planning eye movements during navigation.
使用延迟记忆扫视任务来确定额叶眼区（FEF）神经元的视觉反应性和空间调谐。然后，使用以视觉感受野为中心的移动随机点图案，对具有视觉反应的神经元进行方向选择性测试。运动的首选轴显示出与感受野位置对齐的显著趋势，以便有利于朝向或远离注视中心的运动。离心（向外）运动比向心运动更受青睐。因此，FEF中的运动敏感神经元在群体水平上似乎存在方向偏好。这种偏好可能有助于检测或区分扩展的光流模式。这种方向偏好与在视觉区域MT和后顶叶皮层中看到的类似，FEF从这些区域接收传入投射。向外运动偏好可能解释了对移动目标进行扫视时的不对称性。FEF中光流的表征可能有助于在导航过程中规划眼球运动。
