 |
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
The Journal of Neuroscience, January 25, 2006, 26(4):1117-1127; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2497-05.2006
Previous Article | Next Article
Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Allocentric Spatial Referencing of Neuronal Activity in Macaque Posterior Cingulate Cortex
Heather L. Dean1 andMichael L. Platt1,2,3 1Departments of Neurobiology and 2Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, and 3Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27710
Correspondence should be addressed to Michael L. Platt, Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, 433 Bryan Research Building, Research Drive, Box 3209, Durham, NC 27710. Email: platt{at}neuro.duke.edu
Neuronal activity in posterior cingulate cortex (CGp) is modulated by visual stimulation, saccades, and eye position, suggesting a role for this area in visuospatial transformations. The goal of this study was to determine whether neuronal responses in CGp are anchored to the eyes, head, or outside the body (allocentrically). To discriminate retinocentric from nonretinocentric spatial referencing, the activity of single CGp neurons was recorded while monkeys (Macaca mulatta) performed delayed-saccade trials initiated randomly from three different starting positions to a linear array of targets passing through the neuronal response field. For most neurons, tuning curves, segregated by fixation point, aligned more closely when plotted with respect to the display than when plotted with respect to the eye, suggesting a nonretinocentric frame of reference. A second experiment differentiated between spatial referencing in coordinates anchored to the head or body and allocentric spatial referencing. Monkeys shifted gaze from a central fixation point to the array of previously used targets both before and after whole-body rotation with respect to the display. For most neurons, tuning curves, segregated by fixation position, aligned more closely when plotted as a function of target position in the room than when plotted as a function of target position with respect to the monkey. These data indicate that a population of CGp neurons encodes visuospatial events in allocentric coordinates.
Key words: coordinate frame; saccade; visuospatial; neurophysiology; eye movement; monkey
Received June 17, 2005; revised Dec. 7, 2005; accepted Dec. 8, 2005.
Correspondence should be addressed to Michael L. Platt, Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, 433 Bryan Research Building, Research Drive, Box 3209, Durham, NC 27710. Email: platt{at}neuro.duke.edu
This article has been cited by other articles:
O. A. Mullette-Gillman, Y. E. Cohen, and J. M. Groh
Motor-Related Signals in the Intraparietal Cortex Encode Locations in a Hybrid, rather than Eye-Centered Reference Frame
Cereb Cortex, August 1, 2009; 19(8): 1761 - 1775.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
J. L. Gardner, E. P. Merriam, J. A. Movshon, and D. J. Heeger
Maps of Visual Space in Human Occipital Cortex Are Retinotopic, Not Spatiotopic
J. Neurosci., April 9, 2008; 28(15): 3988 - 3999.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
C. R. Cassanello and V. P. Ferrera
Computing vector differences using a gain field-like mechanism in monkey frontal eye field
J. Physiol., July 15, 2007; 582(2): 647 - 664.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|