The topographic distribution and organization of visual neurons in the prefrontal cortex was examined in alert monkeys. The animal was trained to fixate straight ahead onto a tinty, dim light spot. While he was fixating, we presented a stationary second light spot (RF spot) at various locations in the visual field and examined unit responses of the prefrontal neurons to the RF-spot stimulus. Many prefrontal neurons, especially those located in the relatively superficial layers of the cortex, responded with a phasic and/or tonic activation to the RF spot illuminating a limited extent of the visual field, a receptive field (RF) being so determined. The visual neurons were found to be widely distributed in the prearcuate and inferior dorsolateral areas. One hemisphere mainly represented the contralateral visual field. According to the location of the neurons in these areas, their visual properties varied with respect to RF eccentricity from the fovea and in size. The neurons located in the lateral part of the areas and close to the inferior arcuate sulcus had relatively small RFs representing the foveal and parafoveal regions. When the recording site was moved medially, the RFs became eccentric from the fovea and were larger. Then, the neurons located between the caudal end of the principal sulcus and the arcuate sulcus had RFs with a considerable eccentricity. The size of the RF became progressively larger for anteriorly located neurons and this occurred generally without a change in RF eccentricity. The visual neurons were not organized on a regular pattern in the cortex with regard to their RF direction (vector angle) from the foveal region. From these observations, we conclude, first, that the prearcuate and inferior dorsolateral areas of the prefrontal cortex are functionally differentiated so that the lateral area's function is related to central vision, while that of the medial area to ambient vision. Second, the RF representation on the cortex with loss of the vector relation may generate an interaction between separate objects in visual space and may subserve the control of attention performance.

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When a saccade occurs to an interesting object, visual fixation holds its image on the fovea and suppresses saccades to other objects. Electrical stimulation of the frontal eye field (FEF) has been reported to elicit saccades, and recently also to suppress saccades. This study was performed to characterize properties of the suppression of visually guided (Vsacs) and memory-guided saccades (Msacs) induced by electrical stimulation of the FEF in trained monkeys. For any given stimulation site, we determined the threshold for electrically evoked saccades (Esacs) at < or =50 microA and then examined suppressive effects of stimulation at the same site on Vsacs and Msacs. FEF stimulation suppressed the initiation of both Vsacs and Msacs during and about 50 ms after stimulation at stimulus intensities lower than those for eliciting Esacs, but did not affect the vector of these saccades. Suppression occurred for ipsiversive but not contraversive saccades, and more strongly for saccades with larger amplitudes and those with initial eye positions shifted more in the saccadic direction. The most effective stimulation timing for suppression was about 50 ms before saccade onset, which suggests that suppression occurred in the efferent pathway for generating Vsacs at the premotor rather than the motoneuronal level, most probably in the superior colliculus and/or the paramedian pontine reticular formation. Suppression sites of ipsilateral saccades were distributed over the classical FEF where saccade-related movement neurons were observed. The results suggest that the FEF may play roles in not only generating contraversive saccades but also maintaining visual fixation by suppressing ipsiversive saccades.

Electrical stimulation of the frontal eye field (FEF) has recently been reported to suppress the generation of saccades, which supports the idea that the FEF plays a role in maintaining attentive fixation. This study analyzed the activity of fixation neurons that discharged during fixation in the FEF in relation to visual fixation and saccades in trained monkeys. The neural activity of fixation neurons increased at the start of fixation and was maintained during fixation. When a fixation spot of light disappeared during steady fixation, different fixation neurons exhibited different categories of response, ranging from a decrease in activity to an increase in activity, indicating that there is a continuum of fixation neurons, from neurons with foveal visual-related activity to neurons with activity that is related to the motor act of fixating. Fixation neurons usually showed a decrease in their firing rate before the onset of visually guided saccades (Vsacs) and memory-guided saccades in any direction. The reduction in activity of fixation neurons nearly coincided with, or occurred slightly before, the increase in the activity of saccade-related movement neurons in the FEF in the same monkey. Although fixation neurons were scattered in the FEF, about two thirds of fixation neurons were concentrated in a localized area in the FEF at which electrical stimulation induced strong suppression of the initiation of Vsacs bilaterally. These results suggest that fixation neurons in the FEF are part of a suppression mechanism that could control the maintenance of fixation and the initiation of saccades.