spiking neural network model of the midbrain superior colliculus that generates saccadic motor commands

The midbrain superior colliculus (SC) acts as an optimal controller for saccadic gaze shifts. The SC is proposed to be the site within the visuomotor system where the nonlinear spatial-to-temporal transformation is carried out: the poulation is encodes the intended saccade vector by its location in the motor map (spatial), and its trajectory and velocity by the distribution of firing rates (temporal). Here, we propose a simple spiking neural network model that reproduces the spike trains of saccade-related cells in the intermediate and deep SC layers during saccades. The model assumes that SC neurons have distinct biophysical properties for spike generation that depend on their anatomicalposition in combination with a center-surround lateral connectivity. Our model offers a basis for neuronal algorithms for spatiotemporal transformations and bio-inspired optimal controllers

کلیدواژه ها:

saccades ، superior colliculus ، motor map ، spatial-temporal transformation ، spiking neural network ، nonlinear