Ocular fixation and visual activity in the monkey lateral intraparietal area

Abstract

The macaque lateral intraparietal area (LIP) has been implicated in visuospatial attention and saccade planning. Since area LIP also contains a representation of the central visual field, we investigated its possible role in fixation and foveal attention in a visual fixation task with gap (momentary disappearance of fixation point). In addition to the expected visual neurons ( n=119), two main categories were identified: (1) cells responding tonically both during the presence and momentary absence of the fixation stimulus( n=47); a subset of these neurons studied in a saccade task showed perisaccadic inhibition in half of the cases (14/27). The timing of this inhibition, however, is only loosely related to saccade timing; (2) cells responding mainly to the absence of the fixation stimulus, with either abrupt or gradual onset of activity during the gap ( n=62). During saccades, these neurons showed presaccadic buildup and/or postsaccadic activity, which was spatially tuned in about half of the tested cells (28/53). Ninety-one percent of the cells in the first category and 59% of the cells in the second category were located in the dorsal portion of area LIP (LIPd). These results are consistent with the hypothesis of an oculomotor-attentional network contributing to fixation engagement and disengagement in a subregion of LIP.