QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, January 25, 2006, 26(4):1117-1127; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2497-05.2006

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (7) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dean, H. L. Articles by Platt, M. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dean, H. L. Articles by Platt, M. L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Allocentric Spatial Referencing of Neuronal Activity in Macaque Posterior Cingulate Cortex

Heather L. Dean¹ and Michael L. Platt^1,2,3

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:

				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]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help