Visually Guided Saccade Control Task
Objective: Assess visually guided eye movements to determine whether lesion effects were specific to memory-guided saccades, serving as a control task to distinguish memory deficits from sensory or motor deficits
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Equipment1
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Protocol Steps
Baseline Training on ODR Tasks
Monkeys were trained on oculomotor delayed-response tasks requiring them to remember the spatial location of peripheral visual cues while maintaining fixation on a central visual target during cue presentation and subsequent delay period
Note: Training completed before any lesions were made
View evidence from paper
“Four rhesus monkeys received unilateral or serial prefrontal lesions in and around the principal sulcus after they reached criterion performance on the ODR tasks”
Visually Guided Saccade Control Task
Present visual targets and measure eye movements to those targets without requiring memory maintenance. The animal must make saccades to visible peripheral visual cues while maintaining central fixation during cue presentation
Note: This is a control task to assess basic oculomotor function independent of memory demands
View evidence from paper
“these lesions had little or no effect on performance in visually guided control tasks”
Measure Saccadic Parameters
Record saccadic reaction times and velocities during visually guided saccade trials to establish baseline motor performance
Note: These measurements serve as comparison to memory-guided saccade performance
View evidence from paper
“saccadic reaction times and velocities were the same before and after the lesions”
Assess Eye Movement Direction Accuracy
Evaluate whether eye movements are directed appropriately toward the visual target location
Note: Used to determine if lesions affect directional control of saccades
View evidence from paper
“The impairment was characterized by eye movements of inappropriate direction”