{
  "abstract": "The ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (GLv) is a conserved retinorecipient structure positioned between visual and premotor systems, yet its role in visuomotor transformations remains poorly understood. Here, we examined whether the pigeon GLv contains a spatially organized motor representation linking visual-field locations to orienting movements. Anatomical tracing identified descending projections from neurons in the GLv inner lamina (GLv-li) through pretectal and tegmental regions toward pontine targets. GLv-li projection neurons are GABAergic, yet electrical microstimulation of GLv-li in awake pigeons evoked rapid head movements followed by smaller eye movements. Each stimulation locus produced a reproducible characteristic motor vector whose direction and duration were largely insensitive to stimulation parameters, whereas movement amplitude and velocity approached site-specific plateaus. Movements initiated from different head positions were better explained by repetition of a fixed displacement than by convergence toward a common spatial goal. Critically, motor-vector direction was systematically related to the direction of the visual receptive field represented at the same GLv locus, while motor-vector amplitude covaried with receptive-field eccentricity. These defining features persisted after optic tectum ablation. Together, these findings reveal a retinotopically-organized map of fixed-vector head movements in the avian GLv and identify a tectum-independent route through which visual spatial representations can access descending orienting circuitry.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Johns Hopkins University"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "D. Severin"
    },
    {
      "name": "B. Reynaert"
    },
    {
      "name": "T. Vega-Zuniga"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. C. Letelier"
    },
    {
      "name": "G. Marin"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. J. Karten"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. Mpodozis"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8vbqsdzfwg83f.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.03.756353",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.03.756353v1.full",
  "id": "8vbqsdzfwg83f",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.03.756353v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Visual perception and processing mechanisms"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221022400",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.03.756353v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-03",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8vbqsdzfwg83f.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:26:29Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.03.756353",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.03.756353v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Retinotopic organization of head-orienting vectors in the pigeon ventral lateral geniculate nucleus",
  "title_text": "Retinotopic organization of head-orienting vectors in the pigeon ventral lateral geniculate nucleus",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:26:29Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8vbqsdzfwg83f",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}