Dissonant Representations of Visual Space in Prefrontal Cortex during Eye Movements

Cell Rep. 2018 Feb 20;22(8):2039-2052. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.01.078.

Abstract

We used local field potentials (LFPs) and spikes to investigate representations of visual space in prefrontal cortex and the dynamics of those representations during eye movements. Spatial information contained in LFPs of the frontal eye field (FEF) was differentially distributed across frequencies, with a majority of that information being carried in alpha and high-gamma bands and minimal signal in the low-gamma band. During fixation, spatial information from alpha and high-gamma bands and spiking activity was robust across cortical layers. Receptive fields (RFs) derived from alpha and high-gamma bands were retinocentrically organized, and they were spatially correlated both with each other and with spiking RFs. However, alpha and high-gamma RFs probed before eye movements were dissociated. Whereas high-gamma and spiking RFs immediately converged toward the movement goal, alpha RFs remained largely unchanged during the initial probe response, but they converged later. These observations reveal possible mechanisms of dynamic spatial representations that underlie visual perception during eye movements.

Keywords: eye movement; laminar recording; local field potential; prefrontal cortex; receptive field.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology
  • Animals
  • Eye Movements / physiology*
  • Fixation, Ocular / physiology
  • Frontal Lobe / physiology
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Male
  • Models, Biological
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Prefrontal Cortex / physiology*
  • Saccades / physiology
  • Space Perception / physiology
  • Time Factors
  • Visual Fields / physiology
  • Visual Perception / physiology*