Effect of a Central Fixation Light on Auditory Spatial Responses in Area LIP

1 Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and 2 Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755 Submitted 19 November 2003; accepted in final form 27 January 2004 A recent report demonstrated that, while fixating a central light, lateral intraparietal area (LIP) neurons are not modulated by the location of auditory stimuli until monkeys learn to saccade to the location of an auditory stimulus. This finding suggests that auditory spatial responses in area LIP are dependent on auditory-saccadic training. We found that, in monkeys that had not been trained to make behavioral responses to auditory stimuli, LIP neurons are modulated by auditory-stimulus location when a central light is not present in the environment. These results indicate that LIP auditory responses are not wholly dependent on behavioral training with auditory stimuli. Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: G. W. Gifford, III, Dept. of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755 (E-mail: Gordon.Gifford{at}dartmouth.edu ).