title: Deficits in reach target selection during inactivation of the midbrain superior colliculus.
abstract: Purposive action requires the selection of a single movement goal from multiple possibilities. Neural structures involved in movement planning and execution often exhibit activity related to target selection. A key question is whether this activity is specific to the type of movement produced by the structure, perhaps consisting of a competition among effector-specific movement plans, or whether it constitutes a more abstract, effector-independent selection signal. Here, we show that temporary focal inactivation of the primate superior colliculus (SC), an area involved in eye-movement target selection and execution, causes striking target selection deficits for reaching movements, which cannot be readily explained as a simple impairment in visual perception or motor execution. This indicates that target selection activity in the SC does not simply represent a competition among eye-movement goals and, instead, suggests that the SC contributes to a more general purpose priority map that influences target selection for other actions, such as reaches.
authors: Department of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA. joo-hyun_song@brown.edu
authors: Joo-Hyun
authors: JH
authors: Song
authors: Robert D
authors: RD
authors: Rafal
authors: Robert M
authors: RM
authors: McPeek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008954:Models, Biological; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009048:Motor Skills; D009068:Movement; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*