Human express-saccade makers are impaired at suppressing visually-evoked
saccades.
Biscaldi, Monica, Burkhart Fischer, and Volker Stuhr.
Brain Research Unit, Institute of Biophysics, University of Freiburg, 79104
Freiburg, Germany.
APStracts 3:0036N, 1996.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
1. We report the oculomotor behaviour of human subjects who produce unusually
high numbers (more than 30%) of express saccades (latency range: 85-135 ms) in
the overlap saccade task, where express saccades are usually absent or small
in number (below 15%). We refer to them as 'express-saccade makers' (ES-
makers). 2. We tested the hypothesis that ES-makers have difficulties in
maintaining fixation and in suppressing unwanted saccades to a suddenly
appearing peripheral target by comparing the performances of 10 ES-makers and
10 control subjects in gap and overlap antisaccade tasks and in a memory-
guided saccade task. 3. The ES-makers produced between 35% and 95% incorrect
saccades toward the stimulus (prosaccades) in the antisaccade tasks as
compared to control subjects producing less than 20%. Their correct
antisaccades appeared to be normal. 4. We further tested the ability of ES -
makers to maintain fixation and to avoid reflexive saccades to the onset of a
target in the memory-guided saccade task. Express-saccade makers tended to
glance to the briefly presented cue in many trials (four of them in 50-80% of
the trials) instead of delaying the saccade until fixation-point offset. Most
of the inappropriate saccades had latencies in the range of express saccades.
5. These results can be associated with the finding of fixation- related
neurons in different cortical and subcortical brain regions (e. g. inferior-
parietal and prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia, superior colliculus). The
unusual number of express saccades made by the ES -makers in the standard
overlap and gap tasks, and their unwanted short-latency reflexive saccades to
the target in the memory-guided saccade task, are reminiscent of the
performance in these tasks of monkeys whose collicular fixation neurons were
chemically deactivated. The collicular fixation neurons are probably the final
common pathway in the control of active fixation, and are in mutual inhibitory
relationship with the saccade cells. 6. The decreased saccadic control
observed in the ES-makers suggests that saccade execution in humans is also
gated by a fixation system. These ES-makers may have reduced voluntarily
control over saccade generation as a result of a defect or poor development of
their fixation system.
Received 17 August 1995; accepted in final form 30 January 1996.
APS Manuscript Number J538-5.
Article publication pending J. Neurophysiol.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1996 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 14 February 96