Abstract
Human behavior reflects a continual negotiation of automatic and directed actions. The oculomotor network is a wellโcharacterized neural system in which to study this balance of behavioral control. For instance, saccades made toward and away from a flashed visual stimulus (prosaccades and antisaccades, respectively) are known to engage different cognitive processes. Brain regions important for such controlled execution include the presupplementary motor area (preโSMA), frontal eye fields (FEF), and intraparietal sulcus (IPS). Recent work has emphasized various elements of this network but has not explored the functional interactions among regions. We used eventโrelated fMRI to image human brain activity during performance of an interleaved pro/antisaccade task. Since traditional univariate statistics cannot address issues of functional connectivity, a multivariate technique is necessary. Coherence between fMRI time series of the preโSMA with the FEF and IPS was used to measure functional interactions. The FEF, but not IPS, showed significant differential coherence between proโ and antisaccade trials with preโSMA. These results suggest that the preโSMA coordinates with FEF to maintain a controlled, preparatory set for taskโappropriate oculomotor execution. Hum Brain Mapp, 2005. ยฉ 2005 WileyโLiss, Inc.