The neural basis of saccade target selection

Because saccade target selection involves visual processing and eye movement programming combined with mnemonic influences, only continued experimental ingenuity will disentangle the various and variable contributions of individual neurons.

Abstract

The neural basis of saccade target selection reviews how the visual system locates objects that are salient through their visual features relative to surrounding objects or through their importance based on task goals and then produces an appropriate overt response like a gaze shift. The neural processes responsible for locating salient or important locations and producing saccades occur in a large number of visual and visuomotor structures and cortical areas. We will describe findings from primary visual cortex and extrastriate visual areas that represent object features and findings from the parietal lobe, the superior colliculus and the frontal eye field that represent target salience and generate motor commands.