title: Decomposing the neural correlates of antisaccade eye movements using event-related FMRI.
abstract: The antisaccade task is a model of the conflict between an unwanted reflexive response (which must be inhibited) and a complex volitional response (which must be generated). The present experiment aimed to investigate separately the neural correlates of these cognitive components using a delayed saccade paradigm to dissociate saccade inhibition from generation. Seventeen healthy volunteers completed event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5 T during saccades to and away from a peripheral visual target (prosaccades and antisaccades, respectively). Saccades were requested in response to an auditory go signal on average 12 s after peripheral target appearance. It was found that the right supramarginal gyrus showed significantly greater activation during the inhibition phase than the generation phase of the paradigm for both antisaccade and prosaccade trials, suggesting a role in saccade inhibition or stimulus detection. On the other hand, the right lateral frontal eye field and bilateral intraparietal sulcus showed evidence of selective involvement in antisaccade generation. Ventrolateral and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices showed comparable levels of activation in both phases of the task. These areas likely fulfill a more general supervisory role in the volitional control of eye movements, such as stimulus appraisal, task set, and decision making.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK. u.ettinger@iop.kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ettinger
authors.forename: Dominic H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Ffytche
authors.forename: Veena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumari
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kathmann
authors.forename: Benedikt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zelaya
authors.forename: Steven C R
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009802:Oculomotor Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D012018:Reflex / Q000502:physiology; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D014836:Volition / Q000502:physiology