Visuomotor properties of neurons of the anterior suprasylvian gyrus in the awake cat.

Abstract

Single cell activity was recorded from the Anterior Suprasylvian (ASS) gyrus of cats trained to orient their gaze toward visual or auditory stimuli. Sixty-five fixation cells were activated or suppressed as long as the animals were attentive to a particular region of space in the tangential or in the radial direction. Most of these fixation cells were neither light nor sound sensitive. Fifty-five cells were activated in relation to saccades. Fourteen neurons were active before and 41 after the onset of saccades. Nineteen neurons were also active with spontaneous eye movements in the dark. Fifteen neurons were seemingly related to vergence. They were not light-sensitive. They were preferentially activated by visual stimuli moving in the radial direction either towards or away from animal's face. Fifty light-sensitive neurons responded to moving stimuli. Only two neurons responded to onset of eccentric stationary light-stimuli. Fifty-one neurons showed a modulation in relation to vestibular stimulation. A majority showed, in addition, a vestibulo-collic response. These data suggest that the ASS gyrus in cats has a major role in the construction of the behavioral space.