Optimal Control of Saccades by Spatial-Temporal Activity Patterns in the Monkey Superior Colliculus
Figure 9
Population dynamics within the motor map.
Temporal discharge patterns of saccade-related neurons along the rostral-to-caudal extent of the SC for five different saccade amplitudes. Saccade direction matched the preferred direction of each cell. A) Instantaneous firing rates (color code) of individual cells, sorted according to their rostral-to-caudal location in the SC motor map. Average eye position traces are superimposed. B) Mean discharge profiles of cells at different locations in the map. Each spike density function is the average activity of cells recorded in restricted region of the SC. Bin centers at 2.5° intervals. Burst profiles are shifted upward and color-coded according to the motor map coordinates. C) Site dependent discharge profiles computed at 0.2 mm intervals. As in B, hues of the individual traces refer to the rostral-to-caudal location, with green corresponding to rostral sites and cyan to caudal sites while color saturation is proportional to the instantaneous spike density. Discharge profiles of individual cells are not normalized. Note that for a given saccade amplitude the burst profiles along the rostral-to-caudal extent of the SC appear to have very similar shapes, which change systematically as function of saccade amplitude (and duration).