Abstract
Saccadic eye movements, quick phases of nystagmus, and blinks induced prominent potential changes in the rostral calcarine cortex of the monkey. Slow eye movement did not induce these potential changes. Calcarine potential changes disappeared in darkness and could be induced by passive eye movement. The latency and amplitude of the calcarine responses was related to the amount of light energy which reached the retina. The amplitude was also dependent on the size of the rapid eye movements which induced the potential changes. Contrast in the external visual fields had no apparent effect on the amplitude of these potentials. This is different from lambda waves which disappear or are markedly attenuated when contrasts are removed from the external visual fields. Calcarine potential changes were present at levels of illumination which were in the scotopic range, and increased in size between 10 and 25 min after animals began to dark-adapt to low light levels. They were not affected by foveal destruction. It is likely that they arose largely as a result of activity in rods in the periphery of the retina.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 100-113 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Experimental Neurology |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1971 |