Nervous control of optokinetic responses in the crab Carcinus

1964 ◽  
Vol 161 (983) ◽  
pp. 216-246 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Control System ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Optic Tract ◽  
The Other ◽  
Optokinetic Response ◽  
Nervous Control ◽  
Optokinetic Responses ◽  
Effective Slip ◽  
Contralateral Eye

The eyes of the crab Carcinus follow the movement of a horizontally rotating striped drum with a constantly increasing lag. The relative movement or slip speed is the stimulus for the eye, which with increasing stimulus increases its speed of response over a range of slip speeds from 0.001°/s to 10.0°/s. The gain in the forward control system, i. e. the ratio of eye speed to slip speed, can be as great as 15. The slowest effective slip speed is very low, about a sixth of the speed of the sun across the sky. Whether a seeing eye is allowed to move or not, it will drive the other eye if the latter sees no contrasting objects. An eye can also be driven in this way after section of its optic tract or after painting the cornea. When an eye which is free to move is exposed to a stationary striped field it suppresses the optokinetic response of the other eye, but if the eye exposed to the stationary contrasting field is clamped to the carapace, it no longer suppresses the optokinetic response of the contralateral eye; i. e. clamping the eye has here the same effect as blinding it. The control of the eye movement appears to be unaffected statically or dynamically by proprioceptors of the eye region. The initiation of the rapid flick back in the optokinetic response also takes no account of proprioceptors, but seems to occur when the efferent impulses to eye muscles reach a threshold frequency, which is only slightly modified by blinding one eye. The flick back is synchronized on the two sides. A different reflex, protective retraction, is a fast movement of the eye back into its socket, for which the minimum stimulus can be a touch to one sensory hair alone. During the rapid return phase of the optokinetic response, and during the retraction reflex, the efferent optokinetic impulses are suppressed, and, in addition, peripheral neuromuscular inhibition of tonic motor activity occurs when protective retraction over-rides the optokinetic response. On extending again after retraction, the blinded eye of a unilaterally blinded crab returns to the point in the optokinetic response where it left off. There are spontaneous eye movements which, although of less than one degree, are adequate to excite visual receptors in a stationary visual field. This is demonstrated by the decrease of the tremor when the visual field is changed from a blank one to a contrasting one. In addition, a small scanning movement of a few degrees is initiated when a contrasting object is introduced into the visual field. Therefore there is every reason to suppose that stationary contrasting objects can be perceived by spontaneous and by scanning movements. Similarities of the control system with that in mammals are the lack of a positional proprioceptive effect, coupled with the importance of the motor outflow as a controlling factor. Although there is eye tremor, as in mammals, the main control of eye movements in the crab is by the movement and not by position of a striped field relative to the eye.

Eyecup Withdrawal in the Crab, Carcinus, and its Interaction with the Optokinetic Response

1968 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-297
Author(s):  
M. BURROWS ◽  
G. A. HORRIDGE
Keyword(s):  
Motor Activity ◽  
Optic Tract ◽  
The Other ◽  
Tonic Activity ◽  
Prime Mover ◽  
Optokinetic Response ◽  
Optokinetic Responses ◽  
Spontaneous Withdrawal ◽  
Weak Stimulation ◽  
Stimulation Of

1. Protective withdrawal of the eyecup is caused by a burst of impulses in two axons of the optic tract, one to muscles 19a, 19b and 20a, the other to muscles 18, 20b, 21 and 22. 2. At a reflex eyecup withdrawal other concurrent activity is mechanically overridden ; the tonic activity in only one muscle is inhibited centrally. At a ‘spontaneous’ withdrawal, however, all motor activity to that eyecup is inhibited. 3. The largest muscle, 19a, inactive in other eyecup movements, is the prime mover in withdrawal, and some tonic fibres of this muscle hold the eyecup withdrawn. 4. Two muscles which move the eyecup toward the mid line on optokinetic responses are excited during a withdrawal. It is therefore possible for one muscle to contribute to movements in opposite directions. 5. Repeated reflex withdrawal of an eyecup moving towards the mid line inhibits the optokinetic response of the other eye. 6. Weak stimulation of an eyecup region by a variety of means, including withdrawal, improves the optokinetic response of that eyecup and sometimes of the other eyecup

Visual asymmetries during face encoding Increased dwell time and fixations in the upper and left hemifields

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Maria Felisberti
Keyword(s):  
Face Recognition ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Face Processing ◽  
Dwell Time ◽  
The Other ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
The Right

Visual field asymmetries (VFA) in the encoding of groups rather than individual faces has been rarely investigated. Here, eye movements (dwell time (DT) and fixations (Fix)) were recorded during the encoding of three groups of four faces tagged with cheating, cooperative, or neutral behaviours. Faces in each of the three groups were placed in the upper left (UL), upper right (UR), lower left (LL), or lower right (LR) quadrants. Face recognition was equally high in the three groups. In contrast, the proportion of DT and Fix were higher for faces in the left than the right hemifield and in the upper rather than the lower hemifield. The overall time spent looking at the UL was higher than in the other quadrants. The findings are relevant to the understanding of VFA in face processing, especially groups of faces, and might be linked to environmental cues and/or reading habits.

Adaptation and other Phenomena in the Optokinetic Response of the Crab, Carcinus

1966 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-295
Author(s):  
G. A. HORRIDGE
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Vertical Plane ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Temporary Increase ◽  
Optokinetic Response ◽  
Optokinetic Responses ◽  
Visual Stabilization ◽  
Frequency Components

1. Adaptation to oscillatory stimuli is significant in the range 1-10/sec., for angular amplitudes of about 1°. The mechanism for perception of slow components remains unchanged when that to fast components is eliminated by adaptation. 2. Spontaneous leg movements are accompanied by a temporary increase in gain, showing a central control of the gain. 3. All eye movements are in two dimensions and components in the vertical plane appear similar to those in the horizontal plane, except that in the vertical plane the maximum range is over about 5° and there is no fast return phase. 4. The eye position is less stable in the dark. A single small light giving 0.0003 lux is sufficient to remove low-frequency components from the spontaneous eye movements 5. An imposed tremor of amplitude 0.2-2.0° and period 1-10 sec. is sufficient to make stationary stripes, which would otherwise be ineffective, have an inhibitory effect on movements of the other eye. 6. A new form of arthropod eye movement, saccadic flicks, can be a sign of arousal and attention. 7. Optokinetic responses are a consequence of the visual stabilization of the eye.

scholarly journals Comparison of optomotor and optokinetic reflexes in mice

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 300-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich Kretschmer ◽  
Momina Tariq ◽  
Walid Chatila ◽  
Beverly Wu ◽  
Tudor Constantin Badea
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Retinal Ganglion Cells ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Head Movements ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Optomotor Response ◽  
Optokinetic Response ◽  
Stimulus Velocity ◽  
Image Stabilization ◽  
Optokinetic Responses

During animal locomotion or position adjustments, the visual system uses image stabilization reflexes to compensate for global shifts in the visual scene. These reflexes elicit compensatory head movements (optomotor response, OMR) in unrestrained animals or compensatory eye movements (optokinetic response, OKR) in head-fixed or unrestrained animals exposed to globally rotating striped patterns. In mice, OMR are relatively easy to observe and find broad use in the rapid evaluation of visual function. OKR determinations are more involved experimentally but yield more stereotypical, easily quantifiable results. The relative contributions of head and eye movements to image stabilization in mice have not been investigated. We are using newly developed software and apparatus to accurately quantitate mouse head movements during OMR, quantitate eye movements during OKR, and determine eye movements in freely behaving mice. We provide the first direct comparison of OMR and OKR gains (head or eye velocity/stimulus velocity) and find that the two reflexes have comparable dependencies on stimulus luminance, contrast, spatial frequency, and velocity. OMR and OKR are similarly affected in genetically modified mice with defects in retinal ganglion cells (RGC) compared with wild-type, suggesting they are driven by the same sensory input (RGC type). OKR eye movements have much higher gains than the OMR head movements, but neither can fully compensate global visual shifts. However, combined eye and head movements can be detected in unrestrained mice performing OMR, suggesting they can cooperate to achieve image stabilization, as previously described for other species. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We provide the first quantitation of head gain during optomotor response in mice and show that optomotor and optokinetic responses have similar psychometric curves. Head gains are far smaller than eye gains. Unrestrained mice combine head and eye movements to respond to visual stimuli, and both monocular and binocular fields are used during optokinetic responses. Mouse OMR and OKR movements are heterogeneous under optimal and suboptimal stimulation and are affected in mice lacking ON direction-selective retinal ganglion cells.

Deficits in eye movements following frontal eye-field and superior colliculus ablations

1980 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1175-1189 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. Schiller ◽  
S. D. True ◽  
J. L. Conway
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Saccadic Eye Movements ◽  
The Other ◽  
Frontal Eye Field ◽  
Saccade Velocity ◽  
Eye Field ◽  
Parallel Channels ◽  
Coil Method

1. This study investigated the effects of frontal eye-field and superior colliculus ablations on fixation patterns and saccadic eye movements. Monkeys were trained to pick apple pieces out of a multiple-slotted apple board while their heads were fixed. Eye movement records were obtained using predominantly the implanted search-coil method. 2. Both unilateral and bilateral frontal eye-field lesions produced only temporary deficits in eye movements. Following surgery monkeys tended to neglect the contralateral peripheral visual field and made fewer saccades to peripheral targets. Recovery was virtually completed in 2-4 wk. 3. Superior colliculus ablation reduced fixation accuracy, saccade frequency, and saccade velocity. These deficits showed little recovery with time. 4. Paired frontal eye-field and superior colliculus lesions produced dramatic deficits in visually triggered eye movements. Animals could no longer fixate their eyes on visual targets with any degree of accuracy. The range of eye movements was greatly reduced, as was the frequency and velocity of saccades. These deficits showed little recovery with time. 5. These results suggest that visually triggered saccadic eye movements are controlled by two parallel channels, one involving the superior colliculus and the other the frontal eye field.

scholarly journals Interactions of local movement detectors enhance the detection of rotation. Optokinetic experiments with the rock crab, Pachygrapsus marmoratus

1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Kern ◽  
Hans-Ortwin Nalbach ◽  
Dezsö Varjú
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Optic Flow ◽  
Image Motion ◽  
Optokinetic Responses ◽  
Retinal Image Motion ◽  
Pachygrapsus Marmoratus ◽  
Movement Detectors ◽  
Local Movement ◽  
Rock Crab

AbstractWalking crabs move their eyes to compensate for retinal image motion only during rotation and not during translation, even when both components are superimposed. We tested in the rock crab, Pachygrapsus marmoratus, whether this ability to decompose optic flow may arise from topographical interactions of local movement detectors. We recorded the optokinetic eye movements of the rock crab in a sinusoidally oscillating drum which carried two 10-deg wide black vertical stripes. Their azimuthal separation varied from 20 to 180 deg, and each two-stripe configuration was presented at different azimuthal positions around the crab. In general, the responses are the stronger the more widely the stripes are separated. Furthermore, the response amplitude depends also strongly on the azimuthal positions of the stripes. We propose a model with excitatory interactions between pairs of movement detectors that quantitatively accounts for the enhanced optokinetic responses to widely separated textured patches in the visual field that move in phase. The interactions take place both within one eye and, predominantly, between both eyes. We conclude that these interactions aid in the detection of rotation.

scholarly journals Independent and conjugate eye movements during optokinesis in teleost fish

2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (9) ◽  
pp. 1241-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin A. Fritsches ◽  
N. Justin Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Teleost Fish ◽  
Optokinetic Nystagmus ◽  
Oculomotor System ◽  
Visual Input ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Optokinetic Response ◽  
Different Levels

SUMMARYIn response to movements involving a large part of the visual field, the eyes of vertebrates typically show an optokinetic nystagmus, a response in which both eyes are tightly yoked. Using a comparative approach, this study sets out to establish whether fish with independent spontaneous eye movements show independent optokinetic nystagmus in each eye. Two fish with independent spontaneous eye movements, the pipefish Corythoichthyes intestinalisand the sandlance Limnichthyes fasciatus were compared with the butterflyfish Chaetodon rainfordi, which exhibits tightly yoked eye movements. In the butterflyfish a single whole-field stimulus elicits conjugate optokinesis, whereas the sandlance and pipefish show asynchronous optokinetic movements. In a split drum experiment, when both eyes were stimulated in opposite directions with different speeds, both the sandlance and the pipefish compensated independently with each eye. The optokinetic response in the butterflyfish showed some disconjugacy but was generally confused. When one eye was occluded, the seeing eye was capable of driving the occluded eye in both the butterflyfish and the pipefish but not in the sandlance. Monocular occlusion therefore unmasks a link between the two eyes in the pipefish, which is overridden when both eyes receive visual input. The sandlance never showed any correlation between the eyes during optokinesis in all stimulus conditions. This suggests that there are different levels of linkage between the two eyes in the oculomotor system of teleosts, depending on the visual input.

scholarly journals Asymmetries During Multiple Face Encoding: Increased Dwell Time and Number of Fixations in the Upper Visual Hemifield

i-Perception ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 204166951982797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima M. Felisberti ◽  
Liam Currie
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Dwell Time ◽  
The Other ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
Visual Hemifield ◽  
Bottom Left

Visual field asymmetries in the encoding of groups of faces have rarely been investigated. Here, eye movements (percentage of dwell time [pDT] and number of fixations [nFix]) were recorded during the encoding of three groups of four faces tagged with cheating, cooperative, or neutral behaviours. Faces in each group were placed in the top left, top right, bottom left, or bottom right quadrants. Face recall was equally high in the three behavioural groups. Conversely, pDT and nFix were higher for faces in the upper hemifields. Most of the first saccades were made to the top left visual quadrant, which also commanded a higher pDT and nFix than the other quadrants. The findings are relevant to the understanding of visual field asymmetries in the processing of multiple faces, a common social scenario, and may be linked to reading habits in conjunction (or not) with cultural and environmental cues.

scholarly journals Asymmetries during face encoding: Increaded dwell time and number of fixations in the upper visual hemifield

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Maria Felisberti
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Dwell Time ◽  
The Other ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
Visual Hemifield ◽  
Bottom Left

Visual field asymmetries (VFAs) in the encoding of groups of faces has rarely been investigated. Here, eye movements (proportion of dwell time (pDT) and number of fixations (nFix)) were recorded during the encoding of three groups of four faces tagged with cheating, cooperative, or neutral behaviours. Faces in each group were placed either in the top left, top right, bottom left, or bottom right quadrants. Face recall was equally high in the three behavioural groups. Conversely, pDT and nFix were higher for faces in the upper hemifields. Most of the first saccades were made to the top left visual quadrant, which also commanded a higher pDT and nFix than the other quadrants. The findings are relevant to the understanding of VFAs in the processing of multiple faces, a common social scenario, and may be linked to reading habits in conjunction (or not) with cultural and environmental cues.

scholarly journals Optokinetic Responses, Visual Adaptation and Multisensory Control of Eye Movements in the Spiny Lobster, Palinurus Vulgaris

1983 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 349-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.M. NEIL ◽  
H. SCHÖNE ◽  
F. SCAPINI ◽  
J.A. MIYAN
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Spiny Lobster ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Previous Response ◽  
Optokinetic Response ◽  
Response Level ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
Optokinetic Responses ◽  
Proprioceptive Inputs

1. The optokinetic responses of the spiny lobster, Palinurus vulgaris, were measured in the vertical roll plane. The eyes followed the stripes without nystagmus, and demonstrated incomplete bilateral coupling. Closed-loop responses to oscillating stripes (20° peak-to-peak) showed marked habituation at frequencies above 0.1 Hz, but at lower frequencies continued undiminished, with amplitude-gain values approaching 1.0. 2. Changes in illuminance level demonstrated that the optokinetic response exhibited a threshold below which the eye initially failed to detect and follow the stripes. However, over a period of several minutes, the previous response level could be restored or even exceeded. 3. The optokinetic response could be antagonized by a response to the irradiance gradient, which also had a threshold and showed adaptation. Migration of visual screening pigments may underlie these adaptation processes. 4. Optokinetic stimuli could interact with proprioceptive inputs arising from displacements of the legs on a moving platform. When the proprioceptive inputs were of equal frequency and in antiphase, the optokinetic response was reduced in amplitude; it was in phase with the visual stimulus at low frequencies, and in phase with the platform in the high-frequency range. When the inputs had unequal frequencies, the eyes followed the drum if its frequency was low, but failed to follow either drum or platform if drum frequency was high. We conclude that multisensory control extends the frequency range of operation of compensatory eye movements, and is dominated by the low-frequency optokinetic response.

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