OCULAR MOVEMENTS

The internal representation of saccade commands has been shown to combine with visual information for saccade programming. In normative studies saccade parameters have been found consistent across tests. Their variability is highly correlated in both eyes suggesting a common saccade generator. Experimental and clinical studies specify the role of frontal eye fields in the volitional, inhibitory control of visually triggered saccades. The parietal lobe instead seems mainly concerned with privileged target selection. A parallel processing of saccade related signals occurs in corticostriatal circuits. Pursuit movements elicited by intermittently illuminated moving targets result from a predictive estimate of eye velocity based on previous eye velocity and visual feedback. Evidence for peristriate and parietal cortical areas to encode the information relevant to smooth pursuit generation is provided by clinical studies.