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 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 brainstem mechanisms of saccade generation and have recently focused on the dynamics of the eye and the function of the nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis (nrtp). Our study on eye mechanics (1) documented the dynamics of eye detailing important new constraints on any hypothesis of how eye movements are controlled by the brain. Our study of the nrtp (2) showed that about half the saccade-related neurons located therein may contribute to adaptive plasticity of the saccade system. Because the major input to nrtp comes from the superior colliculus, we have begun to study (4) the role of that structure in adaptive plasticity as well. My investigation of the long-lead burst neurons of the rostral pons (3) identified neurons that may act as a trigger for saccades and disproved several other previously hypothesized functions for these neurons. We continue to investigate the functions of the structures involved in saccade production and are beginning to study (5) the role of the midline cerebellum in those processes. 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.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 320 publications
