SACCADIC EYE MOVEMENT STUDIES

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The ultimate goal of our work is to understand how the brain functions. To do this, we study the output (motor) portions, using the oculomotor system as a model, specifically those fast movements known as saccadic eye movements. We continue our studies of mechanisms of saccade generation and have recently focused on the function of the nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis (nrtp). My investigation of the long-lead burst neurons of the rostral pons (1) identified neurons that may act as a trigger for saccades and disproved several other previously hypothesized functions for these neurons. Our study of nrtp inactivation (2) showed that the nrtp is necessary for the production of saccades since its inactivation leads to paralysis of ipsilateral saccades. Finally, our preliminary findings (3) show that the command signal issued by the superior colliculus and relayed by the nrtp to the cerebellum is necessary for normometric saccades. We also continue to investigate other oculomotor structures. We have recently summarized (4) our previous work on the frontal smooth pursuit area. Our previous study on eye mechanics led to a new theoretical treatment (5) of the dynamics of eye detailing important new constraints on any hypothesis of how eye movements are controlled by the brain. These results not only advance our understanding of how the brain processes information in order to formulate actions based on that information, but they are also basic to the differential neurological diagnosis based on eye-movement signs now commonly used clinically as well as to our understanding of oculomotor processes. They also provide a foundation for studies of more complex aspects of central nervous system function such as interactions between motor systems (e.g., eye and head during orientation) or sensory and motor systems (e.g., the visual and oculomotor systems) and more abstract functions such as attention.