Journal of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology
Open Access

Oculo- and skeletomotor coordination by cortical control in reaching

6^th Global Ophthalmologists Annual Meeting

May 16-18, 2016 Osaka, Japan

Kiyoshi Kurata

Hirosaki University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Exp Ophthalmol

Abstract :

Eye movements are essential to gaze visual objects with foveation at the center of the retina (fovea) where our visual acuity is the best. In the brain, visual information is first processed on the basis of location on the retina, known as retinotopy. The retinotopy in the visual system, such as primary and non-primary visual cortex and the superior colliculus, is largely occupied by the visual field of less than 10 degrees centered at the fovea, supporting the best visual acuity at the fovea. The retinotopy is further transformed to head-centered visual coordinates that contribute (1) to stabilization of our visual fields during eye movements and (2) to generation of coordinated oculo- and skeletomotor movements in reaching. In my talk, I will summarize the recent progress in this field including our own studies. In our studies using monkeys who performed a reaching task by either eye or hand, or both, we recorded and analyzed neuronal activity in the frontal cortex crucial for reaching: the peri-arcuate cortex including the ventral pre-motor cortex (PMv) and the frontal eye field (FEF). We found distinct types of neuronal activities in the areas before and during eye and/or hand movements. Analyzing the neuronal activities, we suggest that the superficial FEF is specialized for saccades, whereas the PMv plays a role in reaching transforming coordinates from visual to motor space. Importantly, it became evident that the cortical region lying between the areas plays crucial roles in coordinated eye-hand movements and monitoring required movements.

Biography :

Email: kurarak@hirosaki-u.ac.jp