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Eye position signals in the dorsal pulvinar during fixation and goal-directed saccades

Lukas Schneider, View ORCID ProfileAdan-Ulises Dominguez-Vargas, Lydia Gibson, View ORCID ProfileIgor Kagan, Melanie Wilke
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/681130
Lukas Schneider
1Decision and Awareness Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
2Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, Goettingen, 37075, Germany
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Adan-Ulises Dominguez-Vargas
1Decision and Awareness Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
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  • ORCID record for Adan-Ulises Dominguez-Vargas
Lydia Gibson
1Decision and Awareness Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
2Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, Goettingen, 37075, Germany
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Igor Kagan
1Decision and Awareness Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
2Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, Goettingen, 37075, Germany
3Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Kellnerweg 4, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
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  • For correspondence: ikagan@dpz.eu
Melanie Wilke
1Decision and Awareness Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
2Department of Cognitive Neurology, University of Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, Goettingen, 37075, Germany
3Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Kellnerweg 4, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
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Abstract

Most sensorimotor cortical areas contain eye position information thought to ensure perceptual stability across saccades and underlie spatial transformations supporting goal-directed actions. One pathway by which eye position signals could be relayed to and across cortical areas is via the dorsal pulvinar. Several studies demonstrated saccade-related activity in the dorsal pulvinar and we have recently shown that many neurons exhibit post-saccadic spatial preference long after the saccade execution. In addition, dorsal pulvinar lesions lead to gaze-holding deficits expressed as nystagmus or ipsilesional gaze bias, prompting us to investigate the effects of eye position. We tested three starting eye positions (−15°/0°/15°) in monkeys performing a visually-cued memory saccade task. We found two main types of gaze dependence. First, ∼50% of neurons showed an effect of static gaze direction during initial and post-saccadic fixation. Eccentric gaze preference was more common than straight ahead. Some of these neurons were not visually-responsive and might be primarily signaling the position of the eyes in the orbit, or coding foveal targets in a head/body/world-centered reference frame. Second, many neurons showed a combination of eye-centered and gaze-dependent modulation of visual, memory and saccadic responses to a peripheral target. A small subset showed effects consistent with eye position-dependent gain modulation. Analysis of reference frames across task epochs from visual cue to post-saccadic target fixation indicated a transition from predominantly eye-centered encoding to representation of final gaze or foveated locations in non-retinocentric coordinates. These results show that dorsal pulvinar neurons carry information about eye position, which could contribute to steady gaze during postural changes and to reference frame transformations for visually-guided eye and limb movements.

New & Noteworthy Work on the pulvinar focused on eye-centered visuospatial representations, but position of the eyes in the orbit is also an important factor that needs to be taken into account during spatial orienting and goal-directed reaching. Here we show that dorsal pulvinar neurons are influenced by eye position. Gaze direction modulated ongoing firing during stable fixation, as well as visual and saccade responses to peripheral targets, suggesting involvement of the dorsal pulvinar in spatial coordinate transformations.

Footnotes

  • ↵* Shared last authorship

  • https://figshare.com/s/846a1444f5f15cace27f

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Posted July 08, 2019.
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Eye position signals in the dorsal pulvinar during fixation and goal-directed saccades
Lukas Schneider, Adan-Ulises Dominguez-Vargas, Lydia Gibson, Igor Kagan, Melanie Wilke
bioRxiv 681130; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/681130
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Eye position signals in the dorsal pulvinar during fixation and goal-directed saccades
Lukas Schneider, Adan-Ulises Dominguez-Vargas, Lydia Gibson, Igor Kagan, Melanie Wilke
bioRxiv 681130; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/681130

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