Retrograde Optogenetics Reveals Functional Convergence within a Corticotectal Pathway of Non-Human Primates

Abstract

Understanding how the cerebral cortex communicates with subcortical areas to drive behavior remains a central question in system neuroscience. One key unresolved issue is whether prefrontal cortical outputs to motor-related subcortical regions carry predominantly motor commands or mixed sensory-motor signals. Retrograde optogenetics offers a powerful way to interrogate such projection-defined circuits, but its use in non-human primates has been limited. Here, we applied retrograde optogenetics in awake macaques to directly test the functional organization of the corticotectal projection from the frontal eye field (FEF) to the superior colliculus (SC). We asked whether the FEF output signals to SC are motor-dominant or broadly sensory-motor. Optical activation of this pathway evoked robust, contralateral saccades and selectively modulated reaction times, demonstrating its causal role in saccade generation. Optogenetically tagging FEF neurons projecting to SC revealed a heterogeneous population of visual, visuomotor, and motor neurons. This diverse output converged predominantly onto motor-related neurons in the SC. These findings support a visuomotor convergence model, in which diverse FEF outputs drive motor-selective SC neurons with activity sufficient for saccade generation, and thus resolve long-standing questions over the composition of FEF outputs. Additionally, our results establish retrograde optogenetics as a tool for dissecting projection-defined circuits in primates and for precisely probing the neural pathways that link perception to action. HighlightsRetrograde optogenetics enabled pronounced and selective modulation of behavior in macaques. Selective optical stimulation of the FEF-SC pathway evoked contralateral saccades and modulated reaction times. Opto-tagging revealed diverse visual, visuomotor, and motor FEF outputs converging onto motor-related SC neurons. Findings support a visuomotor convergence model and demonstrate the power of projection-specific optogenetic tools in primates.