There are many critical brain areas required
for the control of saccades.
Within the cortex, the frontal eye fields
(area 8) and posterior parietal cortex are
the most important.
These cortical areas project to a nucleus in
the mesencephalon, the superior colliculus.
There is also a parallel pathway from the frontal
eye fields via the caudate nucleus and the
substantia nigra pars reticulata to the
superior colliculus.
The superior colliculus and the frontal eye
fields project to the pontine reticular
formation where the neurons re located that
generate the eye velocity command for the
extraocular muscle motoneurons and the neural
integrator.
