SACCADIC EYE MOVEMENT STUDIES

这项研究的长期目标是了解神经质是如何 系统将感觉信息转换成启动指令 和扫视眼球运动的执行。 扫视系统是 由于其简单的外围力学， 和肌肉组织，因为眼跳相关的脑干神经元是可接近的， 并且因为容易精确地测量眼睛运动。 我们知道 神经元类型，k他们的放电模式，和可能的连接的神经元类型，k他们的放电模式，和可能的连接的神经元类型。 神经扫视发生器 然而，我们的理解是不完整的，因此， 已经补充了合理的神经生理学假设， 以模型的形式产生工作假设，模拟 扫视发生器功能正常 我们将进行三组实验，以更全面地描述 扫视的产生过程。 第一个实验将测试两个流行的 目前的模式。 这两个模型做出了截然不同的预测 眼球受损后的扫视 神经积分器 因此，我们将损害假定的积分器， 记录扫视的变化。 这个实验表明， 正确预测所产生的扫视最准确地描述了 扫视发生器 在第二组实验中，我们将记录从假定输入到 扫视发生器 我们将集中研究与扫视相关的神经元， 在已知投射到扫视发生器的中脑区域中。 放电参数将与 扫视和目标度量，以便发现这些神经元是否编码 先前假设的扫视信号或新的信号， 并入到扫视生成的演变模型中。 最后，我们将研究中脑扫视相关的连接， 扫视发生器中的神经元t神经元以及它们的连接 与其他扫视相关的结构。 我们将使用周边尖峰直方图 在警觉训练的动物，以评估之间的功能连接， 神经元 放电特性的描述和 神经元的功能识别类型的连接的演示 将帮助我们理解起源于更集中的信号如何产生 扫视性眼球运动 这些研究将进一步加深我们对神经系统 转换视觉感觉信息以产生扫视运动反应。 此外，我们的数据和其他国家的数据已经并应继续 在神经系统的诊断和定位中非常有用 由多种原因引起的功能障碍。

The long-term objective of this research is to understand how the nervous system translates sensory information into the commands for the initiation and execution of saccadic eye movements. The saccadic system is comparatively well understood because of its simple peripheral mechanics and musculature, because saccade-related brainstem neurons are accessible, and because it is easy to accurately measure eye movements. We know the neuron types,k their discharge patterns, and may of the connections of the neural saccade generator. Our understanding is incomplete, however, so it has been supplemented with reasonable, neurophysiological assumptions to yield working hypotheses, in the form of models,, that simulate a functioning saccade generator. We will perform three sets of experiments to more completely characterize the saccade generation process. The first experiment will test two popular current models. Those two models make distinctly different predictions about the saccades that will result following damage to the oculomotor neural integrator. Therefore we will lesion the putative integrator and record the changes in saccades. This experiment will show that the model that correctly forecasts the resulting saccades most accurate describes the saccade generator. In the second set of experiments we will record from putative inputs to the saccade generator. We will concentrate on saccade-related neurons located in regions of the mesencephalon known to project to the saccade generator. The parameters of the discharge will be quantitatively compared to the saccade and target metrics in order to discover whether these neurons code previously hypothesized saccade signals or new signals that must be incorporated into evolving models of saccade generation. Finally, we will study the connections of mesencephalic saccade-related neurons t neurons in the saccade generator as well as their connections with other saccade-related structures. We will use peri-spike histograms in alert trained animals to assess the functional connections between neurons. The description of discharge characteristics and the demonstration of connections of functionally identified types of neurons will help us to understand how signals originating more centrally produce saccadic eye movements. These studies should further our understanding of how the nervous system transforms visual sensory information to generate saccadic motor responses. In addition, our data and that of other has been, and should continue to be, very useful in the diagnosis and localization of nervous system dysfunction resulting from a wide variety of causes.