Functional connectivity in oculomotor movements

Neuroimaging via fMRI reveals that the neural networks behind the visual system are one of the most complex systems for processing information regarding the external world. Ocular movements can be classified as conjugate saccadic or disconjugate vergence eye movements. Motor learning is another highly complex function residing in the cortical and subcortical regions of the brain that utilizes both cognitive and motor regions. This study explores the neural activity and connectivity between regions of interests using a Granger-causality analysis. The primary findings of this investigation are 1) saccadic and vergence eye movements share common neural activity in terms of participation of cortical and subcortical regions 2) there are more influences / connections in vergence functional activity compared to saccadic activity and 3) there are more influences / interconnectivity during the prediction experimental sequence compared to the random tracking experiments.