An oculomotor decision process revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging

Stephen J Heinen; Jess Rowland; Byeong-Taek Lee; Alex R Wade

doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4243-06.2006

An oculomotor decision process revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging

Stephen J Heinen, Jess Rowland, Byeong-Taek Lee, Alex R Wade

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

It is not known how the brain decides to act on moving objects. We demonstrated previously that neurons in the macaque supplementary eye field (SEF) reflect the rule of ocular baseball, a go/nogo task in which eye movements signal the rule-guided interpretation of the trajectory of a target. In ocular baseball, subjects must decide whether to pursue a moving spot target with an eye movement after discriminating whether the target will cross a distal, visible line segment. Here we identify cortical regions active during the ocular baseball task using event-related human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and concurrent eye-movement monitoring. Task-related activity was observed in the SEF, the frontal eye field (FEF), the superior parietal lobule (SPL), and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). The SPL and right VLPFC showed heightened activity only during ocular baseball, despite identical stimuli and oculomotor demands in the control task, implicating these areas in the decision process. Furthermore, the right VLPFC but not the SPL showed the greatest activation during the nogo decision trials. This suggests both a functional dissociation between these areas and a role for the right VLPFC in rule-guided inhibition of behavior. In the SEF and FEF, activity was similar for ocular baseball and a control eye-movement task. We propose that, although the SEF reflects the ocular baseball rule, both areas in humans are functionally closer to motor processing than the SPL and the right VLPFC. By recording population activity with fMRI during the ocular baseball task, we have revealed the cortical substrate of an oculomotor decision process.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	13515-22
Number of pages	8
Journal	Journal of neuroscience
Volume	26
Issue number	52
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4243-06.2006
Publication status	Published - 2006

Keywords

Adult
Decision Making
Eye Movements
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Motion Perception
Oculomotor Muscles
Oculomotor Nerve
Parietal Lobe
Photic Stimulation
Prefrontal Cortex
Psychomotor Performance
Visual Fields

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10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4243-06.2006

Cite this

@article{1206d88a2bf14086a26f8e2680b177ff,

title = "An oculomotor decision process revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging",

abstract = "It is not known how the brain decides to act on moving objects. We demonstrated previously that neurons in the macaque supplementary eye field (SEF) reflect the rule of ocular baseball, a go/nogo task in which eye movements signal the rule-guided interpretation of the trajectory of a target. In ocular baseball, subjects must decide whether to pursue a moving spot target with an eye movement after discriminating whether the target will cross a distal, visible line segment. Here we identify cortical regions active during the ocular baseball task using event-related human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and concurrent eye-movement monitoring. Task-related activity was observed in the SEF, the frontal eye field (FEF), the superior parietal lobule (SPL), and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). The SPL and right VLPFC showed heightened activity only during ocular baseball, despite identical stimuli and oculomotor demands in the control task, implicating these areas in the decision process. Furthermore, the right VLPFC but not the SPL showed the greatest activation during the nogo decision trials. This suggests both a functional dissociation between these areas and a role for the right VLPFC in rule-guided inhibition of behavior. In the SEF and FEF, activity was similar for ocular baseball and a control eye-movement task. We propose that, although the SEF reflects the ocular baseball rule, both areas in humans are functionally closer to motor processing than the SPL and the right VLPFC. By recording population activity with fMRI during the ocular baseball task, we have revealed the cortical substrate of an oculomotor decision process.",

keywords = "Adult, Decision Making, Eye Movements, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Motion Perception, Oculomotor Muscles, Oculomotor Nerve, Parietal Lobe, Photic Stimulation, Prefrontal Cortex, Psychomotor Performance, Visual Fields",

author = "Heinen, {Stephen J} and Jess Rowland and Byeong-Taek Lee and Wade, {Alex R}",

year = "2006",

doi = "10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4243-06.2006",

language = "English",

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AU - Rowland, Jess

AU - Lee, Byeong-Taek

AU - Wade, Alex R

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N2 - It is not known how the brain decides to act on moving objects. We demonstrated previously that neurons in the macaque supplementary eye field (SEF) reflect the rule of ocular baseball, a go/nogo task in which eye movements signal the rule-guided interpretation of the trajectory of a target. In ocular baseball, subjects must decide whether to pursue a moving spot target with an eye movement after discriminating whether the target will cross a distal, visible line segment. Here we identify cortical regions active during the ocular baseball task using event-related human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and concurrent eye-movement monitoring. Task-related activity was observed in the SEF, the frontal eye field (FEF), the superior parietal lobule (SPL), and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). The SPL and right VLPFC showed heightened activity only during ocular baseball, despite identical stimuli and oculomotor demands in the control task, implicating these areas in the decision process. Furthermore, the right VLPFC but not the SPL showed the greatest activation during the nogo decision trials. This suggests both a functional dissociation between these areas and a role for the right VLPFC in rule-guided inhibition of behavior. In the SEF and FEF, activity was similar for ocular baseball and a control eye-movement task. We propose that, although the SEF reflects the ocular baseball rule, both areas in humans are functionally closer to motor processing than the SPL and the right VLPFC. By recording population activity with fMRI during the ocular baseball task, we have revealed the cortical substrate of an oculomotor decision process.

AB - It is not known how the brain decides to act on moving objects. We demonstrated previously that neurons in the macaque supplementary eye field (SEF) reflect the rule of ocular baseball, a go/nogo task in which eye movements signal the rule-guided interpretation of the trajectory of a target. In ocular baseball, subjects must decide whether to pursue a moving spot target with an eye movement after discriminating whether the target will cross a distal, visible line segment. Here we identify cortical regions active during the ocular baseball task using event-related human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and concurrent eye-movement monitoring. Task-related activity was observed in the SEF, the frontal eye field (FEF), the superior parietal lobule (SPL), and the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). The SPL and right VLPFC showed heightened activity only during ocular baseball, despite identical stimuli and oculomotor demands in the control task, implicating these areas in the decision process. Furthermore, the right VLPFC but not the SPL showed the greatest activation during the nogo decision trials. This suggests both a functional dissociation between these areas and a role for the right VLPFC in rule-guided inhibition of behavior. In the SEF and FEF, activity was similar for ocular baseball and a control eye-movement task. We propose that, although the SEF reflects the ocular baseball rule, both areas in humans are functionally closer to motor processing than the SPL and the right VLPFC. By recording population activity with fMRI during the ocular baseball task, we have revealed the cortical substrate of an oculomotor decision process.

KW - Adult

KW - Decision Making

KW - Eye Movements

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging

KW - Male

KW - Motion Perception

KW - Oculomotor Muscles

KW - Oculomotor Nerve

KW - Parietal Lobe

KW - Photic Stimulation

KW - Prefrontal Cortex

KW - Psychomotor Performance

KW - Visual Fields

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DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4243-06.2006

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