Topography of a Visuomotor Transformation

By virtue of its profuse connectivity with sensory and motor centers and its characteristic intrinsic organization, the teleost optic tectum provides the basis for multisensory integration and sensorimotor transformations required for a number of body-centered behaviors.

“By virtue of its profuse connectivity with a variety of sensory and motor centers, and because of its characteristic intrinsic organization, the teleost optic tectum provides the basis for the multisensory integration and sensorimotor transformations required for a number of body-centered behaviors”

Output neurons in the intermediate and deep layers of the teleost optic tectum are able to initiate orientation or avoidance responses through their projections to the reticular formation and other pre-motor cell groups in the brainstem, which activate motoneurons in oculomotor nuclei and spinal cord that control orienting eye and body movements.

“the output neurons in the intermediate and deep layers of the teleost optic tectum are able to initiate orientation or avoidance responses through their projections to the reticular formation and other pre-motor cell groups in the brainstem, which in turn activate the motoneurons in the oculomotor nuclei and spinal cord that control orienting eye and body movements”

The optic tectum of teleosts receives sensory information mainly from multiple sensory modalities to form real-time representations of the animal surrounding, to identify significant stimuli, like preys or predators, and to trigger sensory guided responses.

“The optic tectum of teleosts receives sensory information mainly from multiple sensory modalities to form real-time representations of the animal surrounding, to identify significant stimuli, like preys, or potentially dangerous objects, as predators, and to trigger sensory guided responses.”

Neural circuits involved in egocentric orientation in teleost fish include mainly several stages of the sensory and perceptual systems, some sensorimotor forebrain circuits, the optic tectum, the cerebellum, and various premotor centers and descending pathways in the brainstem and medulla.

“These neural circuits include mainly several stages of the sensory and perceptual systems, some sensorimotor forebrain circuits, the optic tectum, the cerebellum, and various premotor centers and descending pathways in the brainstem and medulla”

Spatial-to-temporal code transformations depend on the anatomical organization of the tecto-reticular projections to the separate brainstem generators for horizontal and vertical eye movements.

“These spatial-to-temporal code transformations are thought to depend on the anatomical organization of the tecto-reticular projections to the separate brainstem generators for horizontal and vertical eye movements [110,111,145,146,147].”