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de Wit MM, Faseyitan O, Coslett HB. Always expect the unexpected: eye position modulates visual cortex excitability in a stimulus-free environment. J Neurophysiol 2024; 131:937-944. [PMID: 38568480 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00169.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 05/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Stimuli that potentially require a rapid defensive or avoidance action can appear from the periphery at any time in natural environments. de Wit et al. (Cortex 127: 120-130, 2020) recently reported novel evidence suggestive of a fundamental neural mechanism that allows organisms to effectively deal with such situations. In the absence of any task, motor cortex excitability was found to be greater whenever gaze was directed away from either hand. If modulation of cortical excitability as a function of gaze location is a fundamental principle of brain organization, then one would expect its operation to be present outside of motor cortex, including brain regions involved in perception. To test this hypothesis, we applied single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the right lateral occipital lobe while participants directed their eyes to the left, straight-ahead, or to the right, and reported the presence or absence of a phosphene. No external stimuli were presented. Cortical excitability as reflected by the proportion of trials on which phosphenes were elicited from stimulation of the right visual cortex was greater with eyes deviated to the right as compared with the left. In conjunction with our previous findings of change in motor cortex excitability when gaze and effector are not aligned, this eye position-driven change in visual cortex excitability presumably serves to facilitate the detection of stimuli and subsequent readiness to act in nonfoveated regions of space. The existence of this brain-wide mechanism has clear adaptive value given the unpredictable nature of natural environments in which human beings are situated and have evolved.NEW & NOTEWORTHY For many complex tasks, humans focus attention on the site relevant to the task at hand. Humans evolved and live in dangerous environments, however, in which threats arise from outside the attended site; this fact necessitates a process by which the periphery is monitored. Using single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we demonstrated for the first time that eye position modulates visual cortex excitability. We argue that this underlies at least in part what we term "surveillance attention."
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthieu M de Wit
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - Olufunsho Faseyitan
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
| | - H Branch Coslett
- Department of Neurology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
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2
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Cottereau BR, Trotter Y, Durand JB. An egocentric straight-ahead bias in primate's vision. Brain Struct Funct 2021; 226:2897-2909. [PMID: 34120262 PMCID: PMC8541962 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-021-02314-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
As we plan to reach or manipulate objects, we generally orient our body so as to face them. Other objects occupying the same portion of space will likely represent potential obstacles for the intended action. Thus, either as targets or as obstacles, the objects located straight in front of us are often endowed with a special behavioral status. Here, we review a set of recent electrophysiological, imaging and behavioral studies bringing converging evidence that the objects which lie straight-ahead are subject to privileged visual processing. More precisely, these works collectively demonstrate that when gaze steers central vision away from the straight-ahead direction, the latter is still prioritized in peripheral vision. Straight-ahead objects evoke (1) stronger neuronal responses in macaque peripheral V1 neurons, (2) stronger EEG and fMRI activations across the human visual cortex and (3) faster reactive hand and eye movements. Here, we discuss the functional implications and underlying mechanisms behind this phenomenon. Notably, we propose that it can be considered as a new type of visuospatial attentional mechanism, distinct from the previously documented classes of endogenous and exogenous attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benoit R Cottereau
- Centre de Recherche Cerveau Et Cognition, Université de Toulouse, 31052, Toulouse, France. .,Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, 31055, Toulouse, France.
| | - Yves Trotter
- Centre de Recherche Cerveau Et Cognition, Université de Toulouse, 31052, Toulouse, France.,Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, 31055, Toulouse, France
| | - Jean-Baptiste Durand
- Centre de Recherche Cerveau Et Cognition, Université de Toulouse, 31052, Toulouse, France.,Centre National de La Recherche Scientifique, 31055, Toulouse, France
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3
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A naturalistic viewing paradigm using 360° panoramic video clips and real-time field-of-view changes with eye-gaze tracking. Neuroimage 2020; 216:116617. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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4
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Wang L, Baumgartner F, Kaule FR, Hanke M, Pollmann S. Individual face- and house-related eye movement patterns distinctively activate FFA and PPA. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5532. [PMID: 31797874 PMCID: PMC6892816 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13541-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
We investigated if the fusiform face area (FFA) and the parahippocampal place area (PPA) contain a representation of fixation sequences that are typically used when looking at faces or houses. Here, we instructed observers to follow a dot presented on a uniform background. The dot’s movements represented gaze paths acquired separately from observers looking at face or house pictures. Even when gaze dispersion differences were controlled, face- and house-associated gaze patterns could be discriminated by fMRI multivariate pattern analysis in FFA and PPA, more so for the current observer’s own gazes than for another observer’s gaze. The discrimination of the observer’s own gaze patterns was not observed in early visual areas (V1 – V4) or superior parietal lobule and frontal eye fields. These findings indicate a link between perception and action—the complex gaze patterns that are used to explore faces and houses—in the FFA and PPA. The fusiform face area and parahippocampal place area respond to face and scene stimuli respectively. Here, the authors show using fMRI that these brain areas are also preferentially activated by eye movements associated with looking at faces and scenes even when no images are shown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihui Wang
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany.,Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Florian Baumgartner
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Falko R Kaule
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany
| | - Michael Hanke
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.,Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Stefan Pollmann
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany. .,Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany. .,Beijing Key Laboratory of Learning and Cognition and School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China.
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5
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Shi WQ, Liu JX, Yuan Q, Ye L, Su T, Jiang N, Lin Q, Min YL, Li B, Zhu PW, Xu XW, Shao Y. Alternations of interhemispheric functional connectivity in corneal ulcer patients using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity: a resting state fMRI study. Acta Radiol 2019; 60:1159-1166. [PMID: 30482026 DOI: 10.1177/0284185118815308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Qing Shi
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
- Equal contributors
| | - Jia-Xiang Liu
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
- Equal contributors
| | - Qing Yuan
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
| | - Lei Ye
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
| | - Ting Su
- Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Fujian, PR China
| | - Nan Jiang
- Eye Institute of Xiamen University, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Fujian, PR China
| | - Qi Lin
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
| | - You-Lan Min
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
| | - Biao Li
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
| | - Pei-Wen Zhu
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
| | - Xiao-Wei Xu
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
| | - Yi Shao
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Province Ocular Disease Clinical Research Center, Nanchang, Jiangxi, PR China
- Equal contributors
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6
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Combined fMRI- and eye movement-based decoding of bistable plaid motion perception. Neuroimage 2017; 171:190-198. [PMID: 29294388 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.12.094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2017] [Revised: 12/22/2017] [Accepted: 12/29/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The phenomenon of bistable perception, in which perception alternates spontaneously despite constant sensory stimulation, has been particularly useful in probing the neural bases of conscious perception. The study of such bistability requires access to the observer's perceptual dynamics, which is usually achieved via active report. This report, however, constitutes a confounding factor in the study of conscious perception and can also be biased in the context of certain experimental manipulations. One approach to circumvent these problems is to track perceptual alternations using signals from the eyes or the brain instead of observers' reports. Here we aimed to optimize such decoding of perceptual alternations by combining eye and brain signals. Eye-tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in twenty participants while they viewed a bistable visual plaid motion stimulus and reported perceptual alternations. Multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) for fMRI was combined with eye-tracking in a Support vector machine to decode participants' perceptual time courses from fMRI and eye-movement signals. While both measures individually already yielded high decoding accuracies (on average 86% and 88% correct, respectively) classification based on the two measures together further improved the accuracy (91% correct). These findings show that leveraging on both fMRI and eye movement data may pave the way for optimized no-report paradigms through improved decodability of bistable motion perception and hence for a better understanding of the neural correlates of consciousness.
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7
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Boyarskaya E, Sebastian A, Bauermann T, Hecht H, Tüscher O. The Mona Lisa effect: neural correlates of centered and off-centered gaze. Hum Brain Mapp 2014; 36:619-32. [PMID: 25327821 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.22651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2013] [Revised: 09/09/2014] [Accepted: 09/29/2014] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The Mona Lisa effect describes the phenomenon when the eyes of a portrait appear to look at the observer regardless of the observer's position. Recently, the metaphor of a cone of gaze has been proposed to describe the range of gaze directions within which a person feels looked at. The width of the gaze cone is about five degrees of visual angle to either side of a given gaze direction. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how the brain regions involved in gaze direction discrimination would differ between centered and decentered presentation positions of a portrait exhibiting eye contact. Subjects observed a given portrait's eyes. By presenting portraits with varying gaze directions-eye contact (0°), gaze at the edge of the gaze cone (5°), and clearly averted gaze (10°), we revealed that brain response to gaze at the edge of the gaze cone was similar to that produced by eye contact and different from that produced by averted gaze. Right fusiform gyrus and right superior temporal sulcus showed stronger activation when the gaze was averted as compared to eye contact. Gaze sensitive areas, however, were not affected by the portrait's presentation location. In sum, although the brain clearly distinguishes averted from centered gaze, a substantial change of vantage point does not alter neural activity, thus providing a possible explanation why the feeling of eye contact is upheld even in decentered stimulus positions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evgenia Boyarskaya
- Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany; Neuroimaging Center of the Focus Program Translational Neurosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
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8
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Strappini F, Pitzalis S, Snyder AZ, McAvoy MP, Sereno MI, Corbetta M, Shulman GL. Eye position modulates retinotopic responses in early visual areas: a bias for the straight-ahead direction. Brain Struct Funct 2014; 220:2587-601. [PMID: 24942135 PMCID: PMC4549389 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-014-0808-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2013] [Accepted: 05/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Even though the eyes constantly change position, the location of a stimulus can be accurately represented by a population of neurons with retinotopic receptive fields modulated by eye position gain fields. Recent electrophysiological studies, however, indicate that eye position gain fields may serve an additional function since they have a non-uniform spatial distribution that increases the neural response to stimuli in the straight-ahead direction. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging and a wide-field stimulus display to determine whether gaze modulations in early human visual cortex enhance the blood-oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) response to stimuli that are straight-ahead. Subjects viewed rotating polar angle wedge stimuli centered straight-ahead or vertically displaced by ±20° eccentricity. Gaze position did not affect the topography of polar phase-angle maps, confirming that coding was retinotopic, but did affect the amplitude of the BOLD response, consistent with a gain field. In agreement with recent electrophysiological studies, BOLD responses in V1 and V2 to a wedge stimulus at a fixed retinal locus decreased when the wedge location in head-centered coordinates was farther from the straight-ahead direction. We conclude that stimulus-evoked BOLD signals are modulated by a systematic, non-uniform distribution of eye-position gain fields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Strappini
- Department of Neurology, Washington University, School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA,
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9
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Abstract
To locate visual objects, the brain combines information about retinal location and direction of gaze. Studies in monkeys have demonstrated that eye position modulates the gain of visual signals with "gain fields," so that single neurons represent both retinotopic location and eye position. We wished to know whether eye position and retinotopic stimulus location are both represented in human visual cortex. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we measured separately for each of several different gaze positions cortical responses to stimuli that varied periodically in retinal locus. Visually evoked responses were periodic following the periodic retinotopic stimulation. Only the response amplitudes depended on eye position; response phases were indistinguishable across eye positions. We used multivoxel pattern analysis to decode eye position from the spatial pattern of response amplitudes. The decoder reliably discriminated eye position in five of the early visual cortical areas by taking advantage of a spatially heterogeneous eye position-dependent modulation of cortical activity. We conclude that responses in retinotopically organized visual cortical areas are modulated by gain fields qualitatively similar to those previously observed neurophysiologically.
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10
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The cortical eye proprioceptive signal modulates neural activity in higher-order visual cortex as predicted by the variation in visual sensitivity. Neuroimage 2012; 61:950-6. [PMID: 22521251 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2012] [Revised: 03/29/2012] [Accepted: 04/03/2012] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Whereas the links between eye movements and the shifts in visual attention are well established, less is known about how eye position affects the prioritization of visual space. It was recently observed that visual sensitivity varies with the direction of gaze and the level of excitability in the eye proprioceptive representation in human left somatosensory cortex (S1(EYE)), so that after 1Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over S1(EYE), targets presented nearer the center of the orbit are detected more accurately. Here we used whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging to map areas where S1(EYE)-rTMS affects the neural response evoked by retinally identical stimuli depending on the direction of rotation of the right eye. After S1(EYE)-rTMS, a single area in the left cuneus outside Brodmann Areas 17/18 showed an increased neuronal response to a right hemifield target when the right eye was rotated leftwards as compared with when it was rotated rightwards. This effect was larger after S1(EYE)-rTMS than after rTMS of a control area in the motor cortex. The neural response to retinally identical stimuli in this area could be predicted from the changes in visual detectability observed previously, but not from the location of the visual targets relative to the body. These results strongly argue for a modulatory connection from the eye proprioceptive area in the somatosensory cortex to the higher-order visual cortex. This connection may contribute to flexibly allocate priorities for visual perception depending on the proprioceptively signaled direction of gaze.
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11
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Hüfner K, Strupp M, Smith P, Brandt T, Jahn K. Spatial separation of visual and vestibular processing in the human hippocampal formation. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2011; 1233:177-86. [PMID: 21950991 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06115.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The hippocampal formation, that is, the hippocampus proper and the parahippocampal region, is essential for various aspects of memory and plays an important role in human navigation. Navigational cues can be provided by both the visual system (e.g., landmarks, optic flow) and the vestibular system (e.g., estimation of direction during path integration). This study reviews anatomical, electrophysiological, and imaging data that support the view that vestibular input is primarily processed in the anterior part of the hippocampal formation, whereas visual cues are primarily integrated in the posterior part. In cases of reduced vestibular or visual input or excessive sensory stimulation, this hippocampal navigational network is reorganized. The separation of vestibular and visual information in the hippocampal formation has a twofold functional consequence: missing input from either system may be partially substituted for, and the task-dependent sensorial weight can be shifted to, the more reliable modality for navigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Hüfner
- Department of Neurology Integrated Center for Research and Treatment of Vertigo IFBLMU, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany.
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12
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Williams AL, Smith AT. Representation of Eye Position in the Human Parietal Cortex. J Neurophysiol 2010; 104:2169-77. [DOI: 10.1152/jn.00713.2009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurons that signal eye position are thought to make a vital contribution to distinguishing real world motion from retinal motion caused by eye movements, but relatively little is known about such neurons in the human brain. Here we present data from functional MRI experiments that are consistent with the existence of neurons sensitive to eye position in darkness in the human posterior parietal cortex. We used the enhanced sensitivity of multivoxel pattern analysis (MVPA) techniques, combined with a searchlight paradigm, to isolate brain regions sensitive to direction of gaze. During data acquisition, participants were cued to direct their gaze to the left or right for sustained periods as part of a block-design paradigm. Following the exclusion of saccade-related activity from the data, the multivariate analysis showed sensitivity to tonic eye position in two localized posterior parietal regions, namely the dorsal precuneus and, more weakly, the posterior aspect of the intraparietal sulcus. Sensitivity to eye position was also seen in anterior portions of the occipital cortex. The observed sensitivity of visual cortical neurons to eye position, even in the total absence of visual stimulation, is possibly a result of feedback from posterior parietal regions that receive eye position signals and explicitly encode direction of gaze.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrew T. Smith
- Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, United Kingdom
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13
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Instruction dependent activation during optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) stimulation: An FMRI study at 3T. Brain Res 2010; 1336:10-21. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2010.04.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2010] [Accepted: 04/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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14
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Durand JB, Trotter Y, Celebrini S. Privileged Processing of the Straight-Ahead Direction in Primate Area V1. Neuron 2010; 66:126-37. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/03/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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15
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The mental number line modulates visual cortical excitability. Neurosci Lett 2009; 462:253-6. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2009.07.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2009] [Revised: 07/07/2009] [Accepted: 07/09/2009] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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16
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Wagner J, Stephan T, Kalla R, Brückmann H, Strupp M, Brandt T, Jahn K. Mind the bend: cerebral activations associated with mental imagery of walking along a curved path. Exp Brain Res 2008; 191:247-55. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-008-1520-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2008] [Accepted: 07/23/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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17
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Bédard P, Thangavel A, Sanes JN. Gaze influences finger movement-related and visual-related activation across the human brain. Exp Brain Res 2008; 188:63-75. [PMID: 18350284 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-008-1339-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2007] [Accepted: 02/28/2008] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The brain uses gaze orientation to organize myriad spatial tasks including hand movements. However, the neural correlates of gaze signals and their interaction with brain systems for arm movement control remain unresolved. Many studies have shown that gaze orientation modifies neuronal spike discharge in monkeys and activation in humans related to reaching and finger movements in parietal and frontal areas. To continue earlier studies that addressed interaction of horizontal gaze and hand movements in humans (Baker et al. 1999), we assessed how horizontal and vertical gaze deviations modified finger-related activation, hypothesizing that areas throughout the brain would exhibit movement-related activation that depended on gaze angle. The results indicated finger movement-related activation related to combinations of horizontal, vertical, and diagonal gaze deviations. We extended our prior findings to observation of these gaze-dependent effects in visual cortex, parietal cortex, motor, supplementary motor area, putamen, and cerebellum. Most significantly, we found a modulation bias for increased activation toward rightward, upper-right and vertically upward gaze deviations. Our results indicate that gaze modulation of finger movement-related regions in the human brain is spatially organized and could subserve sensorimotor transformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Bédard
- Department of Neuroscience, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Box GL-N, Providence, RI 02912, USA
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18
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Andersson F, Joliot M, Perchey G, Petit L. Eye position-dependent activity in the primary visual area as revealed by fMRI. Hum Brain Mapp 2007; 28:673-80. [PMID: 17089375 PMCID: PMC6871435 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.20296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Internal senses of the position of the eye in the orbit may influence the cognitive processes that take into account gaze and limb positioning for movement or guiding actions. Neuroimaging studies have revealed eye position-dependent activity in the extrastriate visual, parietal, and frontal areas, but, at the earliest vision stage, the role of the primary visual area (V1) in these processes remains unclear. Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to investigate the effect of eye position on V1 activity evoked by a quarter-field stimulation using a visual checkerboard. We showed that the amplitude of V1 activity was modulated by the position of the eye, the activity being maximal when both the eye and head positions were aligned. Previous studies gave impetus to the emerging view that V1 activity is a cortical area in which contextual influences take place. The present study suggests that eye position may affect an early stage of visual processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frédéric Andersson
- Groupe d'Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle (GIN), UMR6194, CNRS, CEA, Université Paris 5, GIP CYCERON, Caen, France
| | - Marc Joliot
- Groupe d'Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle (GIN), UMR6194, CNRS, CEA, Université Paris 5, GIP CYCERON, Caen, France
| | - Guy Perchey
- Groupe d'Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle (GIN), UMR6194, CNRS, CEA, Université Paris 5, GIP CYCERON, Caen, France
| | - Laurent Petit
- Groupe d'Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle (GIN), UMR6194, CNRS, CEA, Université Paris 5, GIP CYCERON, Caen, France
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Herdman AT, Ryan JD. Spatio-temporal brain dynamics underlying saccade execution, suppression, and error-related feedback. J Cogn Neurosci 2007; 19:420-32. [PMID: 17335391 DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.3.420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Human and nonhuman animal research has outlined the neural regions that support saccadic eye movements. The aim of the current work was to outline the sequence by which distinct neural regions come on-line to support goal-directed saccade execution and error-related feedback. To achieve this, we obtained behavioral responses via eye movement recordings and neural responses via magnetoencephalography (MEG), concurrently, while participants performed an antisaccade task. Neural responses were examined with respect to the onset of the saccadic eye movements. Frontal eye field and visual cortex activity distinguished subsequently successful goal-directed saccades from (correct and erroneous) reflexive saccades prior to the deployment of the eye movement. Activity in the same neural regions following the saccadic movement distinguished correct from incorrect saccadic responses. Error-related activity in the frontal eye fields preceded that from visual regions, suggesting a potential feedback network that may drive corrective eye movements. This work provides the first empirical demonstration of simultaneous remote eyetracking and MEG recording. The coupling of behavioral and neuroimaging technologies, used here to characterize dynamic brain networks underlying saccade execution and error-related feedback, demonstrates a novel within-paradigm converging evidence approach by which to outline the neural underpinnings of cognition.
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Aring E, Grönlund MA, Hellström A, Ygge J. Visual fixation development in children. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2007; 245:1659-65. [PMID: 17453232 DOI: 10.1007/s00417-007-0585-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2006] [Revised: 03/02/2007] [Accepted: 03/31/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The ability to keep steady fixation on a target is one of several aspects of good visual function. However, there are few reports on visual fixation during childhood in healthy children. METHODS An infrared eye-tracking device (Orbit) was used to analyse binocular fixation behaviour in 135 non-clinical participants aged 4-15 years. The children wore goggles and their heads were restrained using a chin and forehead rest, while binocularly fixating a stationary target for 20 s. RESULTS The density of fixations around the centre of gravity increased with increasing age (p < 0.01), and the time of fixation without intruding movements increased with increasing age (p = 0.02), while intruding saccades decreased with increasing age (p < 0.01). The number of blinks and drifts did not differ between 4 and 15 years, and there were no significant differences with regard to gender or laterality in any of the investigated variables. No nystagmus was observed. CONCLUSION This study establishes values for visual fixation behaviour in a non-clinical population aged 4-15 years, which can be used for identifying children with fixation abnormalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Aring
- Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology/Ophthalmology, Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden.
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Advances have been made in identifying how areas involved in processing vestibular, ocular motor, and visual information are represented in the human cortex as well as the cortical interaction between these systems in healthy subjects. RECENT FINDINGS While we know how some vestibular and ocular motor disorders modify visuo-vestibular interaction by changing the 'normal' cortical activation-deactivation patterns, it is still early days in functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of patients with specific disorders. Findings from current brain imaging studies of several vestibular, ocular motor, and cerebellar disorders are presented. SUMMARY The promise of more insights into the complex neuronal networks of the human cortex is great.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marianne Dieterich
- Department of Neurology, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
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Bense S, Janusch B, Schlindwein P, Bauermann T, Vucurevic G, Brandt T, Stoeter P, Dieterich M. Direction-dependent visual cortex activation during horizontal optokinetic stimulation (fMRI study). Hum Brain Mapp 2006; 27:296-305. [PMID: 16080162 PMCID: PMC6871394 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.20185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Looking at a moving pattern induces optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) and activates an assembly of cortical areas in the visual cortex, including lateral occipitotemporal (motion-sensitive area MT/V5) and adjacent occipitoparietal areas as well as ocular motor areas such as the prefrontal cortex, frontal, supplementary, and parietal eye fields. The aim of this functional MRI (fMRI) study was to investigate (1) whether stimulus direction-dependent effects can be found, especially in the cortical eye fields, and (2) whether there is a hemispheric dominance of ocular motor areas. In a group of 15 healthy subjects, OKN in rightward and leftward directions was visually elicited and statistically compared with the control condition (stationary target) and with each other. Direction-dependent differences were not found in the cortical eye fields, but an asymmetry of activation occurred in paramedian visual cortex areas, and there were stronger activations in the hemisphere contralateral to the slow OKN phase (pursuit). This can be explained by a shift of the mean eye position of gaze (beating field) in the direction of the fast nystagmus phases of approximately 2.6 degrees, causing asymmetrical visual cortex stimulation. The absence of a significant difference in the activation pattern of the cortical eye fields supports the view that the processing of eye movements in both horizontal directions is mediated in the same cortical ocular motor areas. Furthermore, no hemispheric dominance for OKN processing was found in right-handed volunteers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Bense
- Department of Neurology, Johannes-Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
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Abstract
The phenomenon of spatial neglect after right brain damage greatly helps our understanding of the normal mechanisms of directing and maintaining spatial attention, of spatial orientation, and the characteristics of neural representation of space. The intriguing symptom is a spontaneous orientation bias towards the right leading to neglect of objects or persons on the left. Interestingly, we observe similar symptoms namely a spontaneous bias of eyes and head along the horizontal dimension of space in patients with unilateral vestibular dysfunction. Further similarities concern anatomical findings. Both spatial neglect and vestibular processing at cortical level show dominance in the right hemisphere and involve common brain areas. Lesion studies in human and monkey, electrical and transcranial magnetic stimulation, as well as functional imaging results have revealed the superior temporal cortex, insula and the temporo-parietal junction to be substantial parts of the multisensory (vestibular) system as well as to be affected in spatial neglect. We argue that these structures are not strictly 'vestibular' but rather have a multimodal character representing a significant site for the neural transformation of converging vestibular, auditory, neck proprioceptive and visual input into higher order spatial representations. Neurons of these regions provide us with redundant information about the position and motion of our body in space. They seem to play an essential role in adjusting body position relative to external space. This view may initiate further development of those strategies to treat spatial neglect that use routes to rehabilitation based on specific manipulations of sensory input feeding into this system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans-Otto Karnath
- Section Neuropsychology, Department of Cognitive Neurology, Hertie-Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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