Segregation of visual selection and saccades in human frontal eye fields

Cereb Cortex. 2008 Oct;18(10):2410-5. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhn001. Epub 2008 Mar 6.

Abstract

The premotor theory of attention suggests that target processing and generation of a saccade to the target are interdependent. Temporally precise transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was delivered over the human frontal eye fields, the area most frequently associated with the premotor theory in association with eye movements, while subjects performed a visually instructed pro-/antisaccade task. Visual analysis and saccade preparation were clearly separated in time, as indicated by 2 distinct time points of TMS delivery that resulted in elevated saccade latencies. These results show that visual analysis and saccade preparation, although frequently enacted together, are dissociable processes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention / physiology
  • Frontal Lobe / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Saccades / physiology*
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation*
  • Visual Perception / physiology*
  • Young Adult