Dynamics of Saccade Trajectory Modulation by Distractors: Neural Activity Patterns in the Frontal Eye Field
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract The sudden appearance of a visual distractor shortly before saccade initiation can capture spatial attention and modulate the saccade trajectory in spite of the ongoing execution of the initial plan to shift gaze straight to the saccade target. To elucidate the neural correlates underlying these curved saccades, we recorded from single neurons in the frontal eye field (FEF) of two rhesus monkeys shifting gaze to a target while an isoeccentric distractor appeared either left or right of the target at various delays after target presentation. We found that the population level of pre-saccadic activity encoded the direction of the saccade trajectory. Stronger activity occurred when saccades curved toward the distractor, and weaker when saccades curved away. This relationship held whether the distractor was ipsilateral or contralateral to the recorded neurons. Meanwhile, visually responsive neurons showed asymmetrical patterns of excitatory responses that varied with the location of the distractor and the duration of distractor processing relating to attentional capture and distractor inhibition. During earlier distractor processing, neurons encoded curvature towards the distractor. During later distractor processing, neurons encoded curvature away from the distractor. This was observed when saccades curved away from distractors contralateral to the recording site and when saccades curved towards distractors ipsilateral to the recording site. These findings indicate that saccadic motor planning involves dynamic push-pull hemispheric interactions producing attraction or repulsion for potential but unselected saccade targets. Significant Statement This study not only advances our understanding of oculomotor function in dynamic environments but also has potential clinical relevance for diagnosing and understanding disorders characterized by abnormal saccade trajectories. Our research elucidates the neural mechanisms behind saccade trajectories that are not always linear due to the brain’s integration of multiple visual cues and/or motor plans. By analyzing the frontal eye field (FEF) activity in rhesus monkeys, we found that saccade directionality and timing are influenced by the interaction between FEF visual neurons representing target and distractor stimuli. The FEF’s role extends beyond a winner-takes-all approach, incorporating saccade vector averaging computations that produce curved saccades. Furthermore, ipsilateral visual neurons encode distractor suppression that drives curvature away from the distractor.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".