SACCADIC EYE-MOVEMENTS, EVEN IN DARKNESS, GENERATE EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS RECORDED IN MEDIAL SEPTUM AND MEDIAL TEMPORAL CORTEX

Saccadic eye movements (saccades) in primates organize the visual info rmation about the environment into a pulsatile course. Recent studies from our laboratory have found substantial single unit activity, of ex tra-retinal origin, in medial temporal and inferotemporal cortex with each saccade (even in the dark). In the current experiment we studied event-related potentials to spontaneous saccades from electrodes in me dial temporal cortex as well as medial septum. Significant event-relat ed potentials were recorded in both regions (again even in the dark). These data suggest that higher level processing itself may synchronize with saccades.