Research in our laboratory is focused on clarifying the neurological organization of the oculomotor system. We seek to explain normal and pathological ocular motility in terms of the operation of groups of nerve cells at certain locations in the brain and the connection of such cells into networks. We use a variety of experimental approaches, including neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, and computer simulation and modeling.

Neuronal activity is measured with microelectrodes located in the brain in the vicinity of the nerve cells of interest. Functional inferences are made on the basis of neuronal signal content and its correlation with sensory stimuli and motor behavior. Most of our effort is involved in the understanding of saccadic eye movements. This class of very rapid eye movements is of interest because they are most highly developed in humans who have a very specialized, high acuity retinal area called the fovea. Precisely directed eye movements are needed to align this sharply focused visual area onto objects of interest.

Proper functioning of these eye movements is necessary for efficient reading and skilled hand/eye coordination. By careful observations of any behavior (e.g., eye or hand movements) we can often establish the function of the area where we have been recording. Clinicians now routinely use micro-recording and stimulation techniques similar to those developed in my laboratory and elsewhere to treat patients with Parkinson's disease. The combination of these techniques allows us to form hypotheses about the neuronal organization of the saccadic eye movement system based on our recorded neuronal signals and behavior.

For more information, visit Ed Keller's lab web pages.

Collaborators: Kuniharu Arai, Marcus Missal, Kyoung-Min Lee. Stephen Heinen, Laurent Goffart, Robert McPeek.