Eye movements modulate visual receptive fields of V4 neurons

The receptive field, defined as the spatiotemporal selectivity of neurons t o sensory stimuli, is central to our understanding of the neuronal mechanis ms of perception. However, despite the fact that eye movements are critical during normal vision, the influence of eye movements on the structure of r eceptive fields has never been characterized. Here, we map the receptive fi elds of macaque area V4 neurons during saccadic eye movements and find that receptive fields are remarkably dynamic. Specifically, before the initiati on of a saccadic eye movement, receptive fields shrink and shift towards th e saccade target. These spatiotemporal dynamics may enhance information pro cessing of relevant stimuli during the scanning of a visual scene, thereby assisting the selection of saccade targets and accelerating the analysis of the visual scene during free viewing.