# Neural mechanisms of multiregional communication during coordinated visual behavior

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2024 · $603,053

## Abstract

Project Abstract
In this proposal we will deploy state-of-the-art neural ensemble recordings across the reach and saccadic-
attention cortices of NHP performing coordinated reach-and-saccade movements to test hypotheses about the
multiregional brain mechanisms supporting coordinated visual behavior. There is growing evidence that an
important way to conceptualize the behavioral significance of multiregional brain dynamics is as communication
channels that mediate information transmission between sender brain regions and receiver brain regions. The
communication channel allows populations of neurons in a sender region to dynamically influence the activity of
populations of neurons in a receiver region and support behavioral flexibility. We
channel
the
will
coordinated
seek to test the communication
model of multiregional communication by asking how the model explains neural i nteractions between
 neurons in the saccade and reach regions that must communicate during coordinated visual behavior. We
 specifically investigate multiregional communication during behaviors in which visual fixation enhances
reach and saccade movement performance.One way to demonstrate the importance of fixation to
accurate reaching is to present a second target around the time of a coordinated look and reach or pointing
movement, and instruct subjects to acquire the newly-presented target with a new saccadic eye movement. This
sequence of two movements, the coordinated look-and-reach movement and the subsequent saccadic eye
movement, reveals that the importance of target foveation to accurate reaching extends beyond the act of
fixation. Accurate coordinated looking and reaching features a form of attentional suppression that inhibits
saccades to newly-presented targets. As a result, gaze is said to be temporarily anchored to the target of the
coordinated reach and, importantly, the longer the duration of fixation is extended, the more accurate the reach
movement. Gaze anchoring therefore provides an opportunity to investigate the multiregional mechanisms of a
flexible behavior in terms of communication between at least two separate systems in the brain - the reach
system that controls the reach and the saccade system that is inhibited to suppress new saccades. We will first
do experiments to test and elaborate the conceptual framework of communication channels for multiregional
communication during gaze anchoring. Aims 1 and 2 will test complementary hypotheses involving subspaces
and neural coherence for how communication between reach and saccadic-attentional cortex gives rise to
coordinated behavioral performance. In Aim 3, we will then more closely examine the cognitive processes in play
and select between alternative explanations for how coordinated visual behavior depends on attention. These
experiments will advance understanding of how channel gain and modulation combine in the mechanisms of
multiregional communication, will lead to new strategies for neural rehabi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10793256
- **Project number:** 1R01EY035826-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Bijan Pesaran
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $603,053
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-01-01 → 2027-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10793256

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10793256, Neural mechanisms of multiregional communication during coordinated visual behavior (1R01EY035826-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10793256. Licensed CC0.

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