Saccades depend on a pulse-step firing pattern that allows an initiation of the saccade (pulse), and maintenance of the new eye position in space (step). This video explains the anatomical pathway for this type of activation. The burst cells, which lie in the PPRF, generate the pulse, while the nucleus prepositus hypoglossi and medial vestibular nuclei are responsible for integrating the pulse, yielding the step. Lesions of the pulse generator produce slow-to-no-saccades.
