The long-term goal of the proposed research is to uncover forebrain mechanisms involved in the initiation and visual guidance of eye movements, and in the selective fixation of targets. This project concerns thalamic intralaminar and paralaminar nuclei which contain neurons related to spontaneous and evoked saccades as well as neurons responding to visual stimuli. The objective is to specify the functional significance and the organization of the anatomical connections existing between the thalamic oculomotor area and cortical oculomotor centers: the frontal eye field, the supplementary eye field and the inferior parietal lobule. Experiments, conducted in trained monkeys, will test specific hypotheses, using the following methods: 1) Single unit recording during the performance of visuo- oculomotor tasks. 2) Microstimulation of saccade-related neurons 3) Anatomical tracing 4) Antidromic stimulation The clinical significance of studies aiming at disclosing the role of the central thalamus in the control of gaze is evidenced by recent reports of deficits following central thalamic lesions in man. The syndromes include unilateral neglect, abnormal roving eye movements and hypometric saccades.
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