Visuomotor Integration

The term visuomotor integration refers to the computations preformed by the brain that underlie the visual control of movements. Over the past 40 years, neurophysiological studies performed in alert animals have provided considerable insight into the actual mechanisms responsible for visuomotor integration. In particular, to date, we have a particularly refined understanding of the neural control and pathways that govern eye movements. Notably, pioneering studies have provided key insights regarding how the activities of small clusters of neurons effectively shape the motor commands required to produce accurate eye movement. As a result, our understanding of the brainstem mechanisms that underlie the premotor and motor control of eye movements is now remarkably precise. In turn, this strong foundation has proven to be an advantage for neuroscientists in search of improving our understanding of the neural encoding of higher-level processes that link sensation and action, such as attention, perception, and decision-making.