Burst shapes depend on planned movement.

<p>Shown are the saccade-related discharges of 16 neurons located in a small, central region of the SC for five different saccade amplitudes. Preferred amplitudes of the cells ranged from 13 to 15°. <b>A</b>) Instantaneous firing rates of the individual cells (color code) averaged across trials with the population average superimposed. Insets: schematic drawing of population activity relative to the recording sites. <b>B</b>) Eye position traces and eye velocity profiles of the corresponding eye movements show the main sequence behavior. <b>C</b>) Averaged spike density functions for the different saccade amplitudes normalized to their peak. Note the systematic increases in burst duration and skewness as saccade amplitude increases from 8 to 32 degrees, indicating that the shape parameters of the burst depend on the actual saccade in which the neurons participate, rather than on their topographic location in the motor map.