Driving strategy alters neuronal responses to self-movement: cortical mechanisms of distracted driving

Cereb Cortex. 2012 Jan;22(1):201-8. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhr115. Epub 2011 Jun 7.

Abstract

We presented naturalistic combinations of virtual self-movement stimuli while recording neuronal activity in monkey cerebral cortex. Monkeys used a joystick to drive to a straight ahead heading direction guided by either object motion or optic flow. The selected cue dominates neuronal responses, often mimicking responses evoked when that stimulus is presented alone. In some neurons, driving strategy creates selective response additivities. In others, it creates vulnerabilities to the disruptive effects of independently moving objects. Such cue interactions may be related to the disruptive effects of independently moving objects in Alzheimer's disease patients with navigational deficits.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animals
  • Attention / physiology*
  • Conditioning, Operant
  • Cues
  • Eye Movements
  • Functional Laterality
  • Linear Models
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Motion Perception / physiology*
  • Movement / physiology*
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
  • Temporal Lobe / cytology
  • Temporal Lobe / physiology*
  • User-Computer Interface
  • Visual Pathways / physiology