Summary
Electrical stimulation of the superior colliculus (SC) in alert cats free to move their head, evoked coordinate eye and head movements. The characteristics of these movements as well as their mode of coordination differed according to the collicular region being explored. Three zones were distinguished.
In the anterior zone, evoked eye saccades were retinotopic and the accompanying head movements were slow and small in amplitude. The vestibular slow phase velocity signal was continuously added to the eye saccadic command so that the evoked gaze shift was identical, with the head fixed or free.
In the intermediate zone, evoked eye saccades were goal-directed and the synchronous head movements fast and of large amplitude. The vestibular slow phase signal was cancelled during the eye saccade so that the evoked gaze shift was the result of the eye plus head angular displacement.
In the posterior zone, the evoked head movements were goal-directed. The pattern of eye movements was similar to a vestibular nystagmus. This zone probably directly commands body orienting movements.
A model of SC function in gaze orienting behavior is proposed, calling upon at least two different modes of eye-head coordination.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrahams VC, Richmond F, Rose PK (1975) Basic physiology of the head-eye movement system. In: Lennerstrand G, Bach-y-Rita P (eds) Basic mechanisms of ocular motility and their clinical implications. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 473–476
Abrahams VC, Rose PK (1975) Projections of extraocular, neck muscle and retinal afferents to superior colliculus in the cat: Their connections to cells of origin of tectospinal tract. J Neurophysiol 38: 10–18
Anderson ME, Yoshida M, Wilson VJ (1971) Influence of superior colliculus on cat neck motoneurons. J Neurophysiol 34: 898–907
Baker R, Berthoz A (1974) Organization of vestibular nystagmus in oblique oculomotor system. J Neurophysiol 37: 195–217
Barnes GR (1975) The role of the vestibular system in head-eye coordination. J Physiol (Lond) 246: 99P-100P
Barnes GR (1976) The role of the vestibulo-ocular reflex in visual target acquisition. J Physiol (Lond) 258: 64P-65P
Barnes GR (1979) Vestibulo-ocular function during coordinated head and eye movements to acquire visual targets. J Physiol (Lond) 287: 127–147
Bizzi E, Kalil RE, Morasso P (1972a) Two modes of active eye-head coordination in monkeys. Brain Res 40: 45–48
Bizzi E, Kalil RE, Morasso P, Tagliasco V (1972b) Central programming and peripheral feedback during eye-head coordination in monkeys. Bibl Ophthalmol 82: 220–232
Blakemore C, Donaghy MJ (1974) The measurement of head and eye movements in conscious cats. J Physiol (Lond) 242: 40–41P
Chun KS, Robinson DA (1978) A model of quick phase generation in the vestibuloocular reflex. Biol Cybernet 28: 209–221
Collewijn H (1977) Gaze in freely moving subjects. In: Baker R, Berthoz A (eds) Control of gaze by brain stem neurons. Developments in neuroscience, vol 1, Elsevier North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, pp 13–22
Coulter TD, Bowker RM, Wise SP, Murry EA, Castiglioni AJ, Westlund KN (1979) Cortical, tectal and medullary descending pathways to the cervical spinal cord. In: Granit R, Pompeiano O (eds) Reflex control of posture and movement. Elsevier North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam (Progress in Brain Research, vol 50, pp 263–279)
Ewert JP (1967) Elektrische Reizung des retinalen Projection-feldes im Mittelhirn der Erdkröte (Bufo Bufo L.). Pflügers Arch 295: 90–98
Feldon S, Feldon P, Kruger L (1970) Topography of the retinal projection upon the superior colliculus of the cat. Vision Res 10: 135–143
Gresty MA (1974) Coordination of head and eye movements to fixate continuous and intermittent targets. Vision Res 14: 395–403
Guitton D, Crommelinck M, Roucoux A (1980) Stimulation of the superior colliculus in the alert cat: I. Eye movements and neck EMG activity evoked when the head is restrained. Exp Brain Res 39: 63–73
Guitton D, Mandl G (1980) A comparison between saccades and quick phases of vestibular nystagmus in the cat. Vision Res (in press)
Haddad G, Robinson DA (1977) Cancellation of the vestibuloocular reflex during active and passive head movements in the normal cat. Neurosci Abstr 3: 477
Hess WR, Bürgi S, Bucher V (1946) Motorische Funktion des Tektal- und Tegmentalgebietes. Monatsschr Psychiat Neurol 112: 1–52
Kawamura K, Hashikawa T (1978) Cell bodies of origin of reticular projections from the superior colliculus in the cat: An experimental study with the use of Horseradish Peroxidase as a tracer. J Comp Neurol 182: 1–16
Latto R (1978) The effects of bilateral frontal eye-field, posterior parietal or superior collicular lesions on visual search in the rhesus monkey. Brain Res 146: 35–50
Melvill Jones G (1964) Predominance of anti-compensatory oculomotor response during rapid head rotation. Aerosp Med 35: 965–968
Morasso P, Bizzi E, Dichgans J (1973) Adjustment of saccade characteristics during head movements. Exp Brain Res 16: 492–500
Pola J, Robinson DA (1978) Oculomotor signals in medial longitudinal fasciculus of the monkey. J Neurophysiol 41: 245–259
Robinson DA (1975) Oculomotor control signals. In: Lenner-strand G, Bach-y-Rita P (eds) Basic mechanisms of ocular motility and their clinical implications. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 337–374
Robinson DA (1977) Eye movement control in vertebrates. In: Stent GS (ed) Function and formation of neural systems. Dahlem Konferenzen, Berlin, pp 179–195
Robinson DL, Jarvis CD (1974) Superior colliculus neurons studied during head and eye movements of the behaving monkey. J Neurophysiol 37: 533–540
Ron S, Robinson DA, Skavenski AA (1972) Saccades and the quick phase of nystagmus. Vision Res 12: 2015–2022
Rose PK, Abrahams VC (1978) Tectospinal and tectoreticular cells: their distribution and afferent connections. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 56: 650–658
Roucoux A, Crommelinck M (in press) (1980a) Eye and head fixation movements in cat: their coordination and control. In: Stelmach J, Requin J (eds) Tutorials in motor behavior. North Holland, Amsterdam
Roucoux A, Crommelinck M (1980b) Les phases rapides du nystagmus vestibulaire chez le chat. J Physiol (Paris)
Roucoux A, Guitton D, Crommelinck M (1977) Coordinated eye and head movements in the cat. Exp Brain Res, EBBS Abstr, R34
Schaefer KP (1970) Unit analysis and electrical stimulation in the optic tectum of rabbits and cats. Brain Behav Evol 3: 222–240
Schapiro H, Goodman DC (1969) Motor functions and their anatomical basis in the forebrain and tectum of the Alligator. Exp Neurol 24: 187–195
Schiller PH, Stryker M (1972) Single unit recording and stimulation in superior colliculus of the alert rhesus monkey. J Neurophysiol 35: 915–924
Stein BE, Magalhaes-Castro B, Kruger L (1976) Relationship between visual and tactile representations in cat superior colliculus. J Neurophysiol 39: 401–419
Straschill M, Schick F (1977) Discharges of superior colliculus neurons during head and eye movements of the alert cat. Exp Brain Res 27: 131–141
Stryker MP, Schiller PH (1975) Eye and head movements evoked by electrical stimulation of monkey superior colliculus. Exp Brain Res 23: 103–112
Syka J, Radil-Weiss T (1971) Electrical stimulation of the tectum in freely moving cats. Brain Res 28: 567–572
Wurtz R, Goldberg ME (1972) Activity of superior colliculus in behaving monkey. IV. Effects of lesions on eye movements. J Neurophysiol 35: 587–596
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Roucoux, A., Guitton, D. & Crommelinck, M. Stimulation of the superior colliculus in the alert cat. Exp Brain Res 39, 75–85 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237071
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237071