Changes in the response rate and response variability of area V4 neurons during the preparation of saccadic eye movements.

ABSTRACT: The visually driven responses of macaque area V4 neurons are modulated during the preparation of saccadic eye movements, but the relationship between presaccadic modulation in area V4 and saccade preparation is poorly understood. Recent neurophysiological studies suggest that the variability across trials of spiking responses provides a more reliable signature of motor preparation than mean firing rate across trials. We compared the dynamics of the response rate and the variability in the rate across trials for area V4 neurons during the preparation of visually guided saccades. As in previous reports, we found that the mean firing rate of V4 neurons was enhanced when saccades were prepared to stimuli within a neuron's receptive field (RF) in comparison with saccades to a non-RF location. F

SUBMITTER: Steinmetz NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3774656 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature