The coincidence between late non-phase-locked gamma synchronization response and saccadic eye movements

Int J Psychophysiol. 2004 Feb;51(3):215-22. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2003.09.005.

Abstract

The event-related response in the gamma (30-45 Hz) frequency band was studied in healthy subjects (n=45) viewing sequentially presented pictures from the International Affective Picture System. The distinct non-phase-locked gamma response was obtained in characteristic time window (200-400 ms) with clear-cut centro-parietal location. The strong coincidence between induced gamma oscillations and saccadic eye movements was revealed. We suggest that saccade-related gamma increase is another manifestation of the phenomenon known as presaccadic spike potential, which is commonly registered over parietal scalp leads at 10-20 ms prior to saccade onset. It is hypothesized that late non-phase-locked gamma synchronization mainly reflects activity of a system responsible for attentional tuning and motor planning/execution of saccadic eye movements.

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology*
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Cortical Synchronization / methods
  • Cortical Synchronization / statistics & numerical data*
  • Electroencephalography / methods
  • Electroencephalography / statistics & numerical data
  • Electrooculography / methods
  • Electrooculography / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Saccades / physiology*