Displacement on Visual Selection and Saccade Preparation Neural Control of Visual Search by Frontal Eye Field: Effects of Unexpected Target (original) (raw)

Numerous studies have described different functional cell types in the frontal eye field (FEF), but the reliability of the distinction between these types has been uncertain. Studies in other brain areas have described specific differences in the width of action potentials recorded from different cell types. To substantiate the functionally defined cell types encountered in FEF, we measured the width of spikes of visual, movement, and visuomovement types of FEF neurons in macaque monkeys. We show that visuomovement neurons had the thinnest spikes, consistent with a role in local processing. Movement neurons had the widest spikes, consistent with their role in sending eye movement commands to subcortical structures such as the superior colliculus. Visual neurons had wider spikes than visuomovement neurons, consistent with their role in receiving projections from occipital and parietal cortex. These results show how structure and function of FEF can be linked to guide inferences about neuronal architecture. Local circuit neurons immunoreactive for calretinin, calbindin D-28k or parvalbumin in monkey prefrontal cortex: distribution and morphology. J Comp Neurol 341: 95-116, 1994. Connors BW, Gutnick MJ. Intrinsic firing patterns of diverse neocortical neurons. Trends Neurosci 13: 99 -104, 1990. Constantinidis C, Goldman-Rakic PS. Correlated discharges among putative pyramidal neurons and interneurons in the primate prefrontal cortex. J Neurophysiol 88: 3487-3497, 2002. Csicsvari J, Hirase H, Czurkó A, Mamiya A, Buzsáki G. Oscillatory coupling of hippocampal pyramidal cells and interneurons in the behaving rat. J Neurosci 19: 274 -287, 1999. DiCarlo JJ, Maunsell JH. Using neuronal latency to determine sensory-motor processing pathways in reaction time tasks. J Neurophysiol 93: 2974 -2986, 2005. Dow BM. Functional classes of cells and their laminar distribution in monkey visual cortex. J Neurophysiol 37: 927-946, 1974. Fries W. Cortical projections to the superior colliculus in the macaque monkey: a retrograde study using horseradish peroxidase. J Comp Neurol 230: 55-76, 1984. Goldberg ME, Bushnell MC. Behavioral enhancement of visual responses in monkey cerebral cortex. II. Modulation in frontal eye fields specifically related to saccades. J Neurophysiol 46: 773-787, 1981. González-Burgos G, Krimer LS, Povysheva NV, Barrionuevo G, Lewis DA. Functional properties of fast spiking interneurons and their synaptic connections with pyramidal cells in primate dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. J Neurophysiol 93: 942-953, 2005. Gur M, Beylin A, Snodderly DM. Physiological properties of macaque V1