Spatial working memory in frontal cortex

猕猴的辅助眼野（SEF）通常被认为是动眼区。这一观点似乎得到了以下事实的支持：当猴子准备进行眼球运动时，SEF 神经元会放电，每个神经元会在眼球运动到受限反应域内的目标之前优先放电。然而，规划眼球运动涉及记住目标的位置并将注意力集中在这些位置。因此，SEF 中的神经元活动可能与伴随眼球运动的高阶功能有关，而不是与眼球运动本身的编程有关。解决这个问题是所提出的实验的目的。猴子将被训练执行记忆引导扫视任务（其中它们必须计划眼球运动到记住的位置）和空间工作记忆任务（其中它们必须记住一个位置但抑制任何看它的倾向）。在每种任务的背景下，他们将接受训练来处理相对于视网膜和参考对象定义的位置。在任务执行过程中，SEE 中的神经元活动将受到监控。数据将被分析以测试以下假设：SEF 中的神经元代表工作记忆中保存的位置，无论这些位置是否是预期眼球运动的目标。研究结果将阐明空间工作记忆背后的神经机制，并将有助于解释妈妈出生后以及额叶受累的神经精神疾病病例中发生的行为障碍的本质。

The supplementary eye field (SEF) of the macaque monkey is commonly thought to be an oculomotor area. This view is seemingly supported by the fact that SEF neurons fire when monkeys prepare to make eye movements, with each neuron firing preferentially before eye movements to targets within a restricted response field. However, planning eye movements involves remembering the locations of targets and deploying attention to those locations. Thus neuronal activity in the SEF may be related to high-order functions accompanying eye movements rather than to the programming of eye movements in itself. To resolve this issue is the aim of the proposed experiments. Monkeys will be trained to perform both a memory guided saccade task (in which they mast plan eye movements to a remembered location) and a spatial working memory task (in which they must remember a location but suppress any tendency to look at it). In the context of each kind of task, they will be trained to process locations as defined with respect to the retina and with respect to reference objects. During task performance, neuronal activity will be monitored in the SEE The data will be analyzed to test the hypothesis that neurons in the SEF represent locations being held in working memory regardless of whether or not those locations are the targets of intended eye movements. The results will clarify the neural mechanisms underlying spatial working memory and will help to explain the nature of behavioral impairments occurring after mum and in cases of neuropsychiatric disorder with frontal lobe involvement.