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Behavior of preoculomotor burst neurons during eye-head coordination

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Summary

Single-unit recordings from the pontine reticular formation in four monkeys have shown the presence of two classes of short-lead burst neurons firing during coordinated eye-head movements. The activity of one class showed a correlation with the size of saccadic movements performed during head movements; the other showed a correlation between firing pattern and the combined eye-head movement. Anatomical reconstructions of the recording sites point to an intermingling of the two cell types.

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Author notes

  1. F. Lestienne

    Present address: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire de Physiologie Neurosensorielle, 15 rue de l'Ecole de Medecine, F-75270, Paris Cedex 06, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA

    D. A. Whittington,  F. Lestienne & E. Bizzi

Authors
  1. D. A. Whittington
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  2. F. Lestienne
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  3. E. Bizzi
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Additional information

This research was supported by National Institutes of Health Research Grant NS09343, awarded by National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, by National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NGR 22-099-798, and by National Eye Institute Grant EY02621

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Whittington, D.A., Lestienne, F. & Bizzi, E. Behavior of preoculomotor burst neurons during eye-head coordination. Exp Brain Res 55, 215–222 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237272

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237272

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