The Efference Copy Neurone

Abstract

Neurones which fire at the same time as saccades are found in the tectal commissure of carp. They are unaffected by visual stimuli or by paralysis of eye muscles and so their activity is not directly related to sensory input. Twenty-two units have been examined. They fire in bursts only during eye movements and only for a particular direction of movement, either eyes-left or eyes-right. They begin to fire a few milliseconds before eye movement begins, slowly at first, reach a maximum frequency of about 300 Hz, then slow again and stop after about 100 ms. In two instances such units have been recorded simultaneously in paralysed fish with a tonically firing unit, presumably visual, which was suppressed during each burst. In one case the tonic activity after each burst was increased, in the other it was decreased. We suggest they are efference copy neurones, responsible for perceptual stability during eye movements. Their possible function is discussed in detail. They are not tectal motoneurones because the same eye movements continue after total removal of the tectum. Neither are they dependent on sensory input resulting from eye movement because their discharge patterns are unaffected by darkness or paralysis.