fMRI studies of eye movement control: investigating the interaction of cognitive and sensorimotor brain systems

Abstract

Functional neuroimaging studies of eye movement control have been a useful approach for investigating the interaction of cognitive and sensorimotor brain systems. Building on unit recording studies of behaving nonhuman primates and clinical studies of patients with a focal brain lesion, functional neuroimaging studies have elucidated a pattern of hierarchical organization through which prefrontal and premotor systems interact with sensorimotor systems to support context-dependent adaptive behavior. Studies of antisaccades, memory-guided saccades, and predictive saccades have helped clarify how cognitive brain systems support contextually guided and internally generated action. The use of cognitive and sensorimotor eye movement paradigms is being used to develop a better understanding of life span changes in neurocognitive systems from childhood to late life, and about behavioral and systems-level brain abnormalities in neuropsychiatric disorders.