Saccadic Decisions and Perceptual Motion in Monkeys

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What firing rate pattern is observed after the target onset in the neuronal activity?

It increases rapidly, then dips before gradually increasing again.

At what point does the firing rate divergence between oddball and distractor trials occur?

Around 80ms.

What role do the visual cortices play in the proposed model of sensorimotor decision making?

Act as receptors, sending information to parietal cortex.

How do different reaction times arise in simple tasks like the oddball task according to Carpenter's experiments?

Reaction times decrease when the target is more likely to appear in a specific location. Signup and view all the answers

What does Gold & Shadlen's experiment test regarding neuronal firing rate in the frontal eye fields?

Whether it reflects the log-likelihood of different saccades. Signup and view all the answers

What happens to stimulation-induced saccades in Gold & Shadlen's experiment as the delay period increases?

They shift towards the planned movement. Signup and view all the answers

What historical figure believed in the nonmaterial soul controlling decisions?

Aristotle Signup and view all the answers

Who proposed the idea of two classes of behavior, one deterministic and the other involving unpredictable decisions?

Descartes Signup and view all the answers

Which scientist focused on studying simple reflexes governed by the spinal cord?

Sherrington Signup and view all the answers

What did Galen propose as the connection between sensory and motor systems?

Soul in the heart or brain ventricles Signup and view all the answers

Which brain regions control eye movements through topographically mapped neurons?

Frontal eye fields and superior colliculus Signup and view all the answers

How were sensory systems found to respond to particular stimulus patterns?

Highly specific receptors Signup and view all the answers

What role did area MT neurons play in monkeys' saccade choices?

Area MT neurons each preferred motion in a specific direction, influencing the probability of rightward saccades. Signup and view all the answers

How did Shadlen & Newsome's model propose the transformation of MT signals into saccade decisions?

The model proposed two sets of neurons integrating rightward and leftward motion information over time, with mutual inhibition ensuring only one movement could be chosen. Signup and view all the answers

Describe the firing rate patterns of LIP neurons that matched the model's predictions.

LIP neurons showed gradual increase or decrease during the stimulus period depending on the chosen saccade direction, with firing rate growth proportional to the stimulus strength. Signup and view all the answers

What is the goal of studying the frontal eye fields in the oddball task?

The goal is to understand how the frontal eye fields trigger saccades based on sensory information. Signup and view all the answers

How can variability in reaction times be explained by the Frontal Eye Fields and the Decision-Making Process Task?

Variability in reaction times can be due to the process of triggering saccades based on sensory information by the frontal eye fields. Signup and view all the answers

What is the significance of testing the likelihood hypothesis in the context of saccadic decisions?

Testing the likelihood hypothesis helps validate the model predictions and understand the neural mechanisms underlying saccade choices. Signup and view all the answers