Landmark-Centered Coding in Frontal Cortex Visual Responses

Abstract Visual landmarks influence spatial cognition, navigation and goal-directed behavior, but their influence on visual coding for action is poorly understood. Here, we tested landmark influence on prefrontal visual responses by recording from 568 neurons in the frontal (FEF) and supplementary (SEF) eye fields of rhesus macaques. The response field (the area of visual space that modulates activity) for each neuron was tested in the presence of a landmark placed at one of four configurations. We then fit the spatially tuned response fields against a spatial coordinate continuum between gaze- and landmark-centered models. When response fields were fit separately for each target-landmark configuration, the best fits shifted (mean 37% / 40%) toward landmark-centered coding in FEF / SEF respectively, confirming a configuration-dependent intermediate coding scheme. Overall, these data show that external landmarks influence prefrontal visual responses, possibly helping to stabilize movement goals in the presence of noisy internal egocentric signals.