NEURAL BASIS OF SACCADE TARGET SELECTION IN FRONTAL EYE FIELD DURING VISUAL-SEARCH

CONSPICUOUS visual features commonly attract gaze1,2, but how the brai n selects targets for eye movements is not known. We investigated targ et selection in rhesus monkeys performing a visual search task3 by rec ording neurons in the frontal eye field, an area known to be responsib le for generating purposive eye movements4,5. Neurons with combined vi sual- and eye movement-related activity were analysed. We found that t he initial visual responses to search stimulus arrays were the same wh ether the target or a distractor was in the response field. We also fo und that the neural activity evolved to specify target location before the execution of eye movements, ultimately peaking when the target wa s in the response field and being suppressed when the target was besid e but not distant from the response field. These results demonstrate a possible mechanism by which a desired target is fixated and inappropr iate eye movements are prevented.