An explanation for overlapping saccade and pursuit architecture

Abstract:

Traditionally, it was thought that the saccade and pursuit oculomotor systems were separate, with distinct functions. In the mid-2000s, new physiological data demonstrated that the superior colliculus, as well as other established saccade neural structures, contained cells that responded during pursuit establishing a significant overlap in the pathways subserving pursuit and saccades. In this talk, I present early and recent behavioral data from my collaboration with Steve Heinen that provide a new perspective on pursuit and saccadic system operation that could explain the overlap in neural architecture. Some of our most recent data provides direct evidence that the saccadic system influences pursuit and specifies conditions under which that influence occurs. 

https://people.wright.edu/scott.watamaniuk