Directional preponderance of vertical eye movements induced by cross-axis adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex in the cat

To maintain clear vision, the images on the retina must remain reasonably stable. Head movements are generally dealt with successfully by counter-rotation of the eyes induced by the combined actions of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and the optokinetic reflex. A problem of importance relates to the value of the so-called intrinsic gain of the VOR (VORG) in man, and how this gain is modulated to provide appropriate eye movements. We have studied these problems in two situations: 1. fixation of a stationary object of the visual space while the head moves; 2. fixation of an object moving with the head. These two situations were compared to a basic condition in which no visual target was allowed in order to induce “pure” VOR. Eye movements were recorded in seated subjects during stationary sinusoidal and transient rotations around the vertical axis. Subjects were in total darkness (DARK condition) and involved in mental arithmetic. Alternatively, they were provided with a small foveal target, either fixed with respect to earth (earth-fixed target: EFT condition), or moving with them (chair-fixed-target: CFT condition). The stationary rotation experiment was used as baseline for the ensuing experiment and yielded control data in agreement with the literature. In all 3 visual conditions, typical responses to transient rotations were rigorously identical during the first 200 ms. They showed, sequentially, a 16-ms delay of the eye behind the head and a rapid increase in eye velocity during 75 to 80 ms, after which the average VORG was 0.9 ± 0.15. During the following 50 to 100 ms, the gain remained around 0.9 in all three conditions. Beyond 200 ms, the VORG remained around 0.9 in DARK and increased slowly towards 1 or decreased towards zero in the EFT and CFT conditions, respectively. The time-course of the later events suggests that visual tracking mechanisms came into play to reduce retinal slip through smooth pursuit, and position error through saccades. Our data also show that in total darkness VORG is set to 0.9 in man. Lower values reported in the literature essentially reflect predictive properties of the vestibulo-ocular mechanism, particularly evident when the input signal is a sinewave.

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Eye movements and vestibulo-ocular reflex in the blind

Journal of Neurology ◽

10.1007/bf00314291 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 234 (5) ◽

pp. 337-341 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

D. K�mpf ◽

H.-F. Piper

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Ocular Reflex ◽

Vestibulo Ocular Reflex

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Cross axis vestibulo-ocular reflex induced by pursuit training in alert monkeys

Neuroscience Research ◽

10.1016/0168-0102(96)01051-6 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 255-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Kikuro Fukushima ◽

Junko Fukushima ◽

Shinki Chin ◽

Hiroshi Tsunekawa ◽

Chris R.S. Kaneko

Keyword(s):

Ocular Reflex ◽

Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽

Cross Axis

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Diagnostic accuracy of a smartphone bedside test to assess the fixation suppression of the vestibulo-ocular reflex: when nothing else matters

Journal of Neurology ◽

10.1007/s00415-020-09947-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 267 (7) ◽

pp. 2159-2163

Author(s):

Florin Gandor ◽

Manfred Tesch ◽

Hannelore Neuhauser ◽

Doreen Gruber ◽

Hans-Jochen Heinze ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Diagnostic Accuracy ◽

Healthy Subjects ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Rater Agreement ◽

Cerebellar Syndrome ◽

Ocular Reflex ◽

Bedside Test ◽

Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽

Healthy Cohort

Abstract Objective Validation of a bedside test to objectify the fixation suppression of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (FS-VOR) in patients with a cerebellar syndrome and healthy controls. Methods The vestibulo-ocular reflex and its fixation suppression were assessed by video-nystagmography (VNG) in 20 healthy subjects (mean age 56 ± 15) and 19 patients with a cerebellar syndrome (mean age 70 ± 11). The statistical cutoff delineating normal from pathological FS-VOR was determined at the 2.5th percentile of the normal distribution of the healthy cohort. VNG was then compared to a bedside test, where eye movements were recorded with a smartphone while patients were rotated on a swivel chair at a defined speed and amplitude. These videos were rated as normal or pathological FS-VOR by six blinded raters, and results compared to VNG. Results VNG in healthy controls showed FS-VOR with a reduction of nystagmus beats by 95.0% ± 7.2 (mean ± SD). The statistical cutoff was set at 80.6%. Cerebellar patients reduced nystagmus beats by only 26.3% ± 25.1. Inter-rater agreement of the smartphone video ratings was 85%. The sensitivity of the video ratings to detect an impaired FS-VOR was 99%, its specificity 92%. Inter-test agreement was 91%. Conclusion The smartphone bedside test is an easily performed, reliable, sensitive, specific, and inexpensive alternative for assessing FS-VOR.

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Asymmetry of Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex in the Cat

Otolaryngology ◽

10.1177/019459988509300505 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 93 (5) ◽

pp. 597-600 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

John H. Anderson ◽

Stephen L. Liston

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Semicircular Canals ◽

Whole Body ◽

Slow Phase ◽

Ocular Reflex ◽

Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽

Vertical Semicircular Canals

Vertical eye movements were recorded in alert, restrained cats that were subjected to whole-body rotations which stimulated the vertical semicircular canals. The results showed a significant asymmetry between the upward and downward slow-phase eye movements, which suggests differences in the CNS processing of vertical canal inputs vis-à-vis the vestibulo-ocular reflex.

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Enhancement of the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex by Prior Eye Movements

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1999.81.6.2884 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 81 (6) ◽

pp. 2884-2892 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Vallabh E. Das ◽

Louis F. Dell’Osso ◽

R. John Leigh

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Smooth Pursuit ◽

Initial Perturbation ◽

Head Rotation ◽

Gaze Shift ◽

Stationary Target ◽

Ocular Reflex ◽

Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽

Head Rotations ◽

Horizontal Head

Enhancement of the vestibulo-ocular reflex by prior eye movements. We investigated the effect of visually mediated eye movements made before velocity-step horizontal head rotations in eleven normal human subjects. When subjects viewed a stationary target before and during head rotation, gaze velocity was initially perturbed by ∼20% of head velocity; gaze velocity subsequently declined to zero within ∼300 ms of the stimulus onset. We used a curve-fitting procedure to estimate the dynamic course of the gain throughout the compensatory response to head rotation. This analysis indicated that the median initial gain of compensatory eye movements (mainly because of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, VOR) was 0.8 and subsequently increased to 1.0 after a median interval of 320 ms. When subjects attempted to fixate the remembered location of the target in darkness, the initial perturbation of gaze was similar to during fixation of a visible target (median initial VOR gain 0.8); however, the period during which the gain increased toward 1.0 was >10 times longer than that during visual fixation. When subjects performed horizontal smooth-pursuit eye movements that ended (i.e., 0 gaze velocity) just before the head rotation, the gaze velocity perturbation at the onset of head rotation was absent or small. The initial gain of the VOR had been significantly increased by the prior pursuit movements for all subjects ( P < 0.05; mean increase of 11%). In four subjects, we determined that horizontal saccades and smooth tracking of a head-fixed target (VOR cancellation with eye stationary in the orbit) also increased the initial VOR gain (by a mean of 13%) during subsequent head rotations. However, after vertical saccades or smooth pursuit, the initial gaze perturbation caused by a horizontal head rotation was similar to that which occurred after fixation of a stationary target. We conclude that the initial gain of the VOR during a sudden horizontal head rotation is increased by prior horizontal, but not vertical, visually mediated gaze shifts. We postulate that this “priming” effect of a prior gaze shift on the gain of the VOR occurs at the level of the velocity inputs to the neural integrator subserving horizontal eye movements, where gaze-shifting commands and vestibular signals converge.

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The Vestibulo-Auricular Reflex

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.90977.2008 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 101 (3) ◽

pp. 1258-1266 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Daniel J. Tollin ◽

Janet L. Ruhland ◽

Tom C. T. Yin

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Orienting Response ◽

Head Position ◽

Efference Copy ◽

Head Movements ◽

Fixed Position ◽

Gaze Shift ◽

The Gaze ◽

Ocular Reflex ◽

Vestibulo Ocular Reflex

The mammalian orienting response to sounds consists of a gaze shift that can be a combination of head and eye movements. In animals with mobile pinnae, the ears also move. During head movements, vision is stabilized by compensatory rotations of the eyeball within the head because of the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). While studying the gaze shifts made by cats to sounds, a previously uncharacterized compensatory movement was discovered. The pinnae exhibited short-latency, goal-directed movements that reached their target while the head was still moving. The pinnae maintained a fixed position in space by counter-rotating on the head with an equal but opposite velocity to the head movement. We call these compensatory ear movements the vestibulo-auricular reflex (VAR) because they shared many kinematic characteristics with the VOR. Control experiments ruled out efference copy of head position signals and acoustic tracking (audiokinetic) of the source as the cause of the response. The VAR may serve to stabilize the auditory world during head movements.

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Dynamics of Adaptive Change in Human Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex Direction

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-1990-1103 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 23-29

Author(s):

T.T. Khater ◽

J.F. Baker ◽

B.W. Peterson

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Vertical Component ◽

Onset Time ◽

Eye Position ◽

Complete Darkness ◽

Ocular Reflex ◽

Before And After ◽

Adaptation Procedure ◽

Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽

Horizontal Rotations

Adaptive modification of vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) direction was characterized in humans by recording vertical and horizontal VOR eye movements during horizontal rotations in darkness at frequencies of 0.05 to 1 Hz before and after exposure to a VOR direction adaptation procedure. This procedure paired yaw horizontal vestibular rotation at 0.25 Hz with synchronous pitch vertical optokinetic motion. Saccades were removed from eye position records and VOR gain and phase were recorded. With an onset time constant of 36 min, the VOR measured during horizontal rotation in complete darkness acquired a vertical component in phase with the optokinetic stimulus presented during adaptation. The amplitude of this newly acquired vertical VOR component was maximal during rotation at the frequency of adaptation; at other frequencies, the amplitude was lower, but still significant. Unlike VOR direction adaptation in cats, the phase of the adaptive VOR component in humans did not show significant leads or lags at test frequencies below or above the adaptation frequency. These data suggest that, like the cat, the human VOR can be directionally adapted, and the pathways involving the adaptive component of the VOR are frequency specific.

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Diagnosis and Management of Vestibular Disorders

The Neurology of Eye Movements ◽

10.1093/med/9780199969289.003.0012 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 769-835

Author(s):

R. John Leigh ◽

David S. Zee

Keyword(s):

Eye Movements ◽

Clinical History ◽

Vestibular Disorders ◽

Tullio Phenomenon ◽

Ocular Reflex ◽

Positional Vertigo ◽

Vestibulo Ocular Reflex ◽

Eye Movement Disorders ◽

Symptoms And Signs ◽

Skew Deviation

This chapter reviews clinical features of eye movement disorders associated with vestibular disorders. The clinical history and examination are reviewed, pointing our key symptoms and signs (with illustrative video cases), for example, in distinguishing vertigo due to stroke from peripheral vestibular disease. Acute vertigo is discussed, including forms due to infections, trauma, and toxins as well as Tullio phenomenon, fistula, canal dehiscence. Recurrent vertigo is reviewed, including Ménière’s syndrome, otosclerosis, inflammatory disorders, migraine, vascular disorders, and epilepsy. The mechanism of hyperventilation-induced vertigo and nystagmus is discussed. Posturally induced vertigo is reviewed, detailing features and treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), and central causes of positional vertigo. The symptom of oscillopsia is reviewed, whether due to an abnormal vestibulo-ocular reflex or paresis of extraocular muscles, or due to nystagmus and other abnormal eye movements. Finally, the topological diagnosis and pathogenesis of skew deviation and the ocular tilt reaction are discussed.

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