Effects of Viewing Distance on the Responses of Vestibular Neurons to Combined Angular and Linear Vestibular Stimulation

1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 2538-2557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiju Chen-Huang ◽  
Robert A. McCrea
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Vestibular Stimulation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Viewing Distance ◽  
Vestibuloocular Reflex ◽  
Horizontal Canal ◽  
Head Velocity ◽  
Vestibular Neurons ◽  
Axis Of Rotation

Effects of viewing distance on the responses of vestibular neurons to combined angular and linear vestibular stimulation. The firing behavior of 59 horizontal canal–related secondary vestibular neurons was studied in alert squirrel monkeys during the combined angular and linear vestibuloocular reflex (CVOR). The CVOR was evoked by positioning the animal’s head 20 cm in front of, or behind, the axis of rotation during whole body rotation (0.7, 1.9, and 4.0 Hz). The effect of viewing distance was studied by having the monkeys fixate small targets that were either near (10 cm) or far (1.3–1.7 m) from the eyes. Most units (50/59) were sensitive to eye movements and were monosynaptically activated after electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve (51/56 tested). The responses of eye movement–related units were significantly affected by viewing distance. The viewing distance–related change in response gain of many eye-head-velocity and burst-position units was comparable with the change in eye movement gain. On the other hand, position-vestibular-pause units were approximately half as sensitive to changes in viewing distance as were eye movements. The sensitivity of units to the linear vestibuloocular reflex (LVOR) was estimated by subtraction of angular vestibuloocular reflex (AVOR)–related responses recorded with the head in the center of the axis of rotation from CVOR responses. During far target viewing, unit sensitivity to linear translation was small, but during near target viewing the firing rate of many units was strongly modulated. The LVOR responses and viewing distance–related LVOR responses of most units were nearly in phase with linear head velocity. The signals generated by secondary vestibular units during voluntary cancellation of the AVOR and CVOR were comparable. However, unit sensitivity to linear translation and angular rotation were not well correlated either during far or near target viewing. Unit LVOR responses were also not well correlated with their sensitivity to smooth pursuit eye movements or their sensitivity to viewing distance during the AVOR. On the other hand there was a significant correlation between static eye position sensitivity and sensitivity to viewing distance. We conclude that secondary horizontal canal–related vestibuloocular pathways are an important part of the premotor neural substrate that produces the LVOR. The otolith sensory signals that appear on these pathways have been spatially and temporally transformed to match the angular eye movement commands required to stabilize images at different distances. We suggest that this transformation may be performed by the circuits related to temporal integration of the LVOR.

Effects of Viewing Distance on the Responses of Horizontal Canal–Related Secondary Vestibular Neurons During Angular Head Rotation

1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 2517-2537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiju Chen-Huang ◽  
Robert A. McCrea
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Head Rotation ◽  
Vestibular Nerve ◽  
Viewing Distance ◽  
Vestibuloocular Reflex ◽  
Horizontal Canal ◽  
Head Velocity ◽  
Firing Behavior ◽  
Vestibular Neurons

Effects of viewing distance on the responses of horizontal canal–related secondary vestibular neurons during angular head rotation. The eye movements generated by the horizontal canal–related angular vestibuloocular reflex (AVOR) depend on the distance of the image from the head and the axis of head rotation. The effects of viewing distance on the responses of 105 horizontal canal–related central vestibular neurons were examined in two squirrel monkeys that were trained to fixate small, earth-stationary targets at different distances (10 and 150 cm) from their eyes. The majority of these cells (77/105) were identified as secondary vestibular neurons by synaptic activation following electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve. All of the viewing distance–sensitive units were also sensitive to eye movements in the absence of head movements. Some classes of eye movement–related vestibular units were more sensitive to viewing distance than others. For example, the average increase in rotational gain (discharge rate/head velocity) of position-vestibular-pause units was 20%, whereas the gain increase of eye-head-velocity units was 44%. The concomitant change in gain of the AVOR was 11%. Near viewing responses of units phase lagged the responses they generated during far target viewing by 6–25°. A similar phase lag was not observed in either the near AVOR eye movements or in the firing behavior of burst-position units in the vestibular nuclei whose firing behavior was only related to eye movements. The viewing distance–related increase in the evoked eye movements and in the rotational gain of all unit classes declined progressively as stimulus frequency increased from 0.7 to 4.0 Hz. When monkeys canceled their VOR by fixating head-stationary targets, the responses recorded during near and far target viewing were comparable. However, the viewing distance–related response changes exhibited by central units were not directly attributable to the eye movement signals they generated. Subtraction of static eye position signals reduced, but did not abolish viewing distance gain changes in most units. Smooth pursuit eye velocity sensitivity and viewing distance sensitivity were not well correlated. We conclude that the central premotor pathways that mediate the AVOR also mediate viewing distance–related changes in the reflex. Because irregular vestibular nerve afferents are necessary for viewing distance–related gain changes in the AVOR, we suggest that a central estimate of viewing distance is used to parametrically modify vestibular afferent inputs to secondary vestibuloocular reflex pathways.

Effect of viewing distance and location of the axis of head rotation on the monkey's vestibuloocular reflex. I. Eye movement responses

1992 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 861-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. H. Snyder ◽  
W. M. King
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Visual Target ◽  
Head Rotation ◽  
Rotational Axis ◽  
Viewing Distance ◽  
Vestibuloocular Reflex ◽  
Velocity Signal ◽  
Head Velocity ◽  
Axis Of Rotation ◽  
Pure Delay

1. The vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) stabilizes images on the retina against movements of the head in space. Viewing distance, target eccentricity, and location of the axis of rotation may influence VOR responses because rotation of the head about most axes in space rotates and translates the eyes relative to visual targets. To study the VOR response to combined rotation and translation, monkeys were placed on a rate table and rotated briefly in the dark about a vertical axis that was located in front of or behind the eyes. The monkeys fixated a near or far visual target that was extinguished before the rotation. Eye movements were recorded from both eyes by the use of the search coil technique. 2. Peak eye velocity evoked by the VOR was linearly related to vergence angle for any axis of rotation. The percent change in the VOR with near target viewing relative to far target viewing at a vergence angle of 20 degrees was linearly related to the location of the axis of rotation. Axes located behind the eyes produced positive changes in VOR amplitude, and axes located in front of the eyes produced negative changes in VOR amplitude. An axis of rotation located in the coronal plane containing the centers of rotation of the eyes produced no modification of VOR amplitude. For any axis, the VOR compensated for approximately 90% of the translation of the eye relative to near targets. 3. The initial VOR response was not correct in magnitude but was refined by a series of three temporally delayed corrections of increasing complexity. The earliest VOR-evoked eye movement (10-20 ms after rotation onset) was independent of viewing distance and rotational axis location. In the next 100 ms, eye speed appeared to be sequentially modified three times: within 20 ms by viewing distance; within 30 ms by otolith translation; and within 100 ms by eye translation relative to the visual target. 4. These data suggest a formal model of the VOR consisting of four channels. Channel 1 conveys an unmodified head rotation signal with a pure delay of 10 ms. Channel 2 conveys an angular head velocity signal, modified by viewing distance with a pure delay of 20 ms, but invariant with respect to the location of the axis of rotation. Channel 3 conveys a linear head velocity signal, dependent on the location of the axis of rotation, that is modified by viewing distance with a pure delay of 30 ms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Pursuit—Vestibular Interactions in Brain Stem Neurons During Rotation and Translation

2005 ◽  
Vol 93 (6) ◽  
pp. 3418-3433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Meng ◽  
Andrea M. Green ◽  
J. David Dickman ◽  
Dora E. Angelaki
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Smooth Pursuit ◽  
Viewing Distance ◽  
Vestibuloocular Reflex ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements ◽  
Firing Rates ◽  
Pursuit Eye Movements ◽  
Neural Activities

Under natural conditions, the vestibular and pursuit systems work synergistically to stabilize the visual scene during movement. How translational vestibular signals [translational vestibuloocular reflex (TVOR)] are processed in the premotor pathways for slow eye movements continues to remain a challenging question. To further our understanding of how premotor neurons contribute to this processing, we recorded neural activities from the prepositus and rostral medial vestibular nuclei in macaque monkeys. Vestibular neurons were tested during 0.5-Hz rotation and lateral translation (both with gaze stable and during VOR cancellation tasks), as well as during smooth pursuit eye movements. Data were collected at two different viewing distances, 80 and 20 cm. Based on their responses to rotation and pursuit, eye-movement–sensitive neurons were classified into position–vestibular–pause (PVP) neurons, eye–head (EH) neurons, and burst–tonic (BT) cells. We found that approximately half of the type II PVP and EH neurons with ipsilateral eye movement preference were modulated during TVOR cancellation. In contrast, few of the EH and none of the type I PVP cells with contralateral eye movement preference modulated during translation in the absence of eye movements; nor did any of the BT neurons change their firing rates during TVOR cancellation. Of the type II PVP and EH neurons that modulated during TVOR cancellation, cell firing rates increased for either ipsilateral or contralateral displacement, a property that could not be predicted on the basis of their rotational or pursuit responses. In contrast, under stable gaze conditions, all neuron types, including EH cells, were modulated during translation according to their ipsilateral/contralateral preference for pursuit eye movements. Differences in translational response sensitivities for far versus near targets were seen only in type II PVP and EH cells. There was no effect of viewing distance on response phase for any cell type. When expressed relative to motor output, neural sensitivities during translation (although not during rotation) and pursuit were equivalent, particularly for the 20-cm viewing distance. These results suggest that neural activities during the TVOR were more motorlike compared with cell responses during the rotational vestibuloocular reflex (RVOR). We also found that neural responses under stable gaze conditions could not always be predicted by a linear vectorial addition of the cell activities during pursuit and VOR cancellation. The departure from linearity was more pronounced for the TVOR under near-viewing conditions. These results extend previous observations for the neural processing of otolith signals within the premotor circuitry that generates the RVOR and smooth pursuit eye movements.

Expression of motor learning in the response of the primate vestibuloocular reflex pathway to electrical stimulation

1992 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 1493-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Broussard ◽  
H. M. Bronte-Stewart ◽  
S. G. Lisberger
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Motor Learning ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Image Motion ◽  
Vestibuloocular Reflex ◽  
Horizontal Canal ◽  
Vestibular Afferents ◽  
Eye Velocity ◽  
Stimulation Of

1. The vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) undergoes long-term adaptive changes in the presence of persistent retinal image motion during head turns. Previous experiments using natural stimuli have provided evidence that the VOR is subserved by parallel pathways, including some that are modified during learning and some that are not. We have used electrical stimulation of the vestibular labyrinth to investigate the temporal properties of the signals that are transmitted through the modified pathways. 2. Electrodes were implanted chronically in the superior semi-circular canal, the horizontal canal, or the vestibule for electrical activation of the vestibular afferents. Learning was induced by fitting the monkeys with spectacles that magnified or miniaturized vision. Before, during, and after motor learning, we measured the eye movements evoked by electrical stimulation of the labyrinth as well as the gain of the VOR, defined as eye speed divided by head speed during natural vestibular stimulation in the dark. 3. Trains of pulses applied to the labyrinth caused the eyes to move away from the side of stimulation with an initial rapid change in eye velocity followed by a steady-state plateau. Changes in the gain of the VOR caused large changes in the trajectory and magnitude of eye velocity during the plateau, showing that our stimulating electrodes had access to the modified pathways. 4. A single, brief current pulse applied to the labyrinth evoked an eye movement that had a latency of 5 ms and consisted of a pulse of eye velocity away from the side of the stimulation followed by a rebound toward the side of stimulation. To quantify the effect of motor learning on these eye movements, we pooled the data across different VOR gains and computed the slope of the relationship between eye velocity and VOR gain at each millisecond after the stimulus. We refer to the slope as the "modification index." 5. In comparison with the evoked eye velocity, the modification index took longer to return to baseline and showed a large peak at the time of the rebound in eye velocity. Increases in stimulus current increased both the amplitude and the duration of the modification index and revealed several later peaks. These observations suggest that the full expression of motor learning requires activation of multisynaptic pathways and recruitment of primary vestibular afferents with higher thresholds for electrical stimulation. 6. The modification index was almost always positive during the initial deflection in eye velocity, and the latency of the first change in the modification index was usually the same as the latency of the evoked eye movement.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Neuron activity in monkey vestibular nuclei during vertical vestibular stimulation and eye movements

1984 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 724-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Chubb ◽  
A. F. Fuchs ◽  
C. A. Scudder
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Unit Activity ◽  
Vestibular Nuclei ◽  
Vestibular Stimulation ◽  
Head Movements ◽  
Medial Longitudinal Fasciculus ◽  
Eye Position ◽  
Head Velocity ◽  
Eye Velocity

To elucidate how information is processed in the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) pathways subserving vertical eye movements, extracellular single-unit recordings were obtained from the vestibular nuclei of alert monkeys trained to track a visual target with their eyes while undergoing sinusoidal pitch oscillations (0.2-1.0 Hz). Units with activity related to vertical vestibular stimulation and/or eye movements were classified as either vestibular units (n = 53), vestibular plus eye-position units (n = 30), pursuit units (n = 10), or miscellaneous units (n = 5), which had various combinations of head- and eye-movement sensitivities. Vestibular units discharged in relation to head rotation, but not to smooth eye movements. On average, these units fired approximately in phase with head velocity; however, a broad range of phase shifts was observed. The activities of 8% of the vestibular units were related to saccades. Vestibular plus eye-position units fired in relation to head velocity and eye position and, in addition, usually to eye velocity. Their discharge rates increased for eye and head movements in opposite directions. During combined head and eye movements, the modulation in unit activity was not significantly different from the sum of the modulations during each alone. For saccades, the unit firing rate either decreased to zero or was unaffected. Pursuit units discharged in relation to eye position, eye velocity, or both, but not to head movements alone. For saccades, unit activity usually either paused or was unaffected. The eye-movement-related activities of the vestibular plus eye-position and pursuit units were not significantly different. A quantitative comparison of their firing patterns suggests that vestibular, vestibular plus eye-position, and pursuit neurons in the vestibular nucleus could provide mossy fiber inputs to the flocculus. In addition, the vertical vestibular plus eye-position neurons have discharge patterns similar to those of fibers recorded rostrally in the medial longitudinal fasciculus. Therefore, our data support the view that vertical vestibular plus eye-position neurons are interneurons of the VOR.

Discharge patterns in nucleus prepositus hypoglossi and adjacent medial vestibular nucleus during horizontal eye movement in behaving macaques

1992 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. McFarland ◽  
A. F. Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Smooth Pursuit ◽  
Vestibular Nucleus ◽  
Medial Vestibular Nucleus ◽  
Eye Position ◽  
Head Velocity ◽  
Firing Rates ◽  
Prepositus Hypoglossi ◽  
Eye Velocity

1. Monkeys were trained to perform a variety of horizontal eye tracking tasks designed to reveal possible eye movement and vestibular sensitivities of neurons in the medulla. To test eye movement sensitivity, we required stationary monkeys to track a small spot that moved horizontally. To test vestibular sensitivity, we rotated the monkeys about a vertical axis and required them to fixate a target rotating with them to suppress the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR). 2. All of the 100 units described in our study were recorded from regions of the medulla that were prominently labeled after injections of horseradish peroxidase into the abducens nucleus. These regions include the nucleus prepositus hypoglossi (NPH), the medial vestibular nucleus (MVN), and their common border (the “marginal zone”). We report here the activities of three different types of neurons recorded in these regions. 3. Two types responded only during eye movements per se. Their firing rates increased with eye position; 86% had ipsilateral “on” directions. Almost three quarters (73%) of these medullary neurons exhibited a burst-tonic discharge pattern that is qualitatively similar to that of abducens motoneurons. There were, however, quantitative differences in that these medullary burst-position neurons were less sensitive to eye position than were abducens motoneurons and often did not pause completely for saccades in the off direction. The burst of medullary burst position neurons preceded the saccade by an average of 7.6 +/- 1.7 (SD) ms and, on average, lasted the duration of the saccade. The number of spikes in the burst was well correlated with saccade size. The second type of eye movement neuron displayed either no discernible burst or an inconsistent one for on-direction saccades and will be referred to as medullary position neurons. Neither the burst-position nor the position neurons responded when the animals suppressed the VOR; hence, they displayed no vestibular sensitivity. 4. The third type of neuron was sensitive to both eye movement and vestibular stimulation. These neurons increased their firing rates during horizontal head rotation and smooth pursuit eye movements in the same direction; most (76%) preferred ipsilateral head and eye movements. Their firing rates were approximately in phase with eye velocity during sinusoidal smooth pursuit and with head velocity during VOR suppression; on average, their eye velocity sensitivity was 50% greater than their vestibular sensitivity. Sixty percent of these eye/head velocity cells were also sensitive to eye position. 5. The NPH/MVN region contains many neurons that could provide an eye position signal to abducens neurons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Providing a human user artificial ability to control their eyes independently with various eye movement patterns

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (0) ◽  
pp. 171-172
Author(s):  
Fumio Mizuno ◽  
Tomoaki Hayasaka ◽  
Takami Yamaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Visual Perception ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Binocular Rivalry ◽  
Human Visual System ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Flexible Adaptation ◽  
Left And Right

Humans have the capability to flexibly adapt to visual stimulation, such as spatial inversion in which a person wears glasses that display images upside down for long periods of time (Ewert, 1930; Snyder and Pronko, 1952; Stratton, 1887). To investigate feasibility of extension of vision and the flexible adaptation of the human visual system with binocular rivalry, we developed a system that provides a human user with the artificial oculomotor ability to control their eyes independently for arbitrary directions, and we named the system Virtual Chameleon having to do with Chameleons (Mizuno et al., 2010, 2011). The successful users of the system were able to actively control visual axes by manipulating 3D sensors held by their both hands, to watch independent fields of view presented to the left and right eyes, and to look around as chameleons do. Although it was thought that those independent fields of view provided to the user were formed by eye movements control corresponding to pursuit movements on human, the system did not have control systems to perform saccadic movements and compensatory movements as numerous animals including human do. Fluctuations in dominance and suppression with binocular rivalry are irregular, but it is possible to bias these fluctuations by boosting the strength of one rival image over the other (Blake and Logothetis, 2002). It was assumed that visual stimuli induced by various eye movements affect predominance. Therefore, in this research, we focused on influenced of patterns of eye movements on visual perception with binocular rivalry, and implemented functions to produce saccadic movements in Virtual Chameleon.

Discharge characteristics of medial rectus and abducens motoneurons in the goldfish

1991 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 2125-2140 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Pastor ◽  
B. Torres ◽  
J. M. Delgado-Garcia ◽  
R. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Vestibular Stimulation ◽  
Medial Rectus ◽  
Eye Position ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Time Constants ◽  
Recruitment Threshold ◽  
Eye Blink

1. The discharge of antidromically identified medial rectus and abducens motoneurons was recorded in restrained unanesthesized goldfish during spontaneous eye movements and in response to vestibular and optokinetic stimulation. 2. All medial rectus and abducens motoneurons exhibited a similar discharge pattern. A burst of spikes accompanied spontaneous saccades and fast phases during vestibular and optokinetic nystagmus in the ON-direction. Firing rate decreased for the same eye movements in the OFF-direction. All units showed a steady firing rate proportional to eye position beyond their recruitment threshold. 3. Motoneuronal position (ks) and velocity (rs) sensitivity for spontaneous eye movements were calculated from the slope of the rate-position and rate-velocity linear regression lines, respectively. The averaged ks and rs values of medial rectus motoneurons were higher than those of abducens motoneurons. The differences in motoneuronal sensitivity coupled with structural variations in the lateral versus the medial rectus muscle suggest that symmetric nasal and temporal eye movements are preserved by different motor unit composition. Although the abducens nucleus consists of distinct rostral and caudal subgroups, mean ks and rs values were not significantly different between the two populations. 4. Every abducens and medial rectus motoneuron fired an intense burst of spikes during its corresponding temporal or nasal activation phase of the "eye blink." This eye movement consisted of a sequential, rather than a synergic, contraction of both vertical and horizontal extraocular muscles. The eye blink could act neither as a protective reflex nor as a goal-directed eye movement because it could not be evoked in response to sensory stimuli. We propose a role for the blink in recentering eye position. 5. Motoneuronal firing rate after ON-directed saccades decreased exponentially before reaching the sustained discharge proportional to the new eye position. Time constants of the exponential decay ranged from 50 to 300 ms. Longer time constants after the saccade were associated with backward drifts of eye position and shorter time constants with onward drifts. These postsaccadic slide signals are suggested to encode the transition of eye position to the new steady level. 6. Motoneurons modulated sinusoidally in response to sinusoidal head rotation in the dark, but for a part of the cycle they went into cutoff, dependent on their eye position recruitment threshold. Eye position (kv) and velocity (rv) sensitivity during vestibular stimulation were measured at frequencies between 1/16 and 2 Hz. Motoneuronal time constants (tau v = rv/kv) decreased on the average by 25% with the frequency of vestibular stimulation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Precerebellar Hindbrain Neurons Encoding Eye Velocity During Vestibular and Optokinetic Behavior in the Goldfish

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 1370-1382 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Beck ◽  
Paul Rothnie ◽  
Hans Straka ◽  
Susan L. Wearne ◽  
Robert Baker
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Mossy Fiber ◽  
Vestibular Stimulation ◽  
Neuronal Firing ◽  
Velocity Storage ◽  
Head Velocity ◽  
Motor Error ◽  
Eye Velocity

Elucidating the causal role of head and eye movement signaling during cerebellar-dependent oculomotor behavior and plasticity is contingent on knowledge of precerebellar structure and function. To address this question, single-unit extracellular recordings were made from hindbrain Area II neurons that provide a major mossy fiber projection to the goldfish vestibulolateral cerebellum. During spontaneous behavior, Area II neurons exhibited minimal eye position and saccadic sensitivity. Sinusoidal visual and vestibular stimulation over a broad frequency range (0.1–4.0 Hz) demonstrated that firing rate mirrored the amplitude and phase of eye or head velocity, respectively. Table frequencies >1.0 Hz resulted in decreased firing rate relative to eye velocity gain, while phase was unchanged. During visual steps, neuronal discharge paralleled eye velocity latency (∼90 ms) and matched both the build-up and the time course of the decay (∼19 s) in eye velocity storage. Latency of neuronal discharge to table steps (40 ms) was significantly longer than for eye movement (17 ms), but firing rate rose faster than eye velocity to steady-state levels. The velocity sensitivity of Area II neurons was shown to equal (±10%) the sum of eye- and head-velocity firing rates as has been observed in cerebellar Purkinje cells. These results demonstrate that Area II neuronal firing closely emulates oculomotor performance. Conjoint signaling of head and eye velocity together with the termination pattern of each Area II neuron in the vestibulolateral lobe presents a unique eye-velocity brain stem-cerebellar pathway, eliminating the conceptual requirement of motor error signaling.

Effects of Phosphor Persistence on Perception and the Control of Eye Movements

Perception ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Neary ◽  
Arnold J Wilkins
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
The Other ◽  
Saccadic Suppression ◽  
Rapid Eye Movement ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Cathode Ray Tube ◽  
Ghost Image ◽  
Corrective Saccades

When a rapid eye movement (saccade) is made across material displayed on cathode ray tube monitors with short-persistence phosphors, various perceptual phenomena occur. The phenomena do not occur when the monitor has a long-persistence phosphor. These phenomena were observed for certain spatial arrays, their possible physiological basis noted, and their effect on the control of eye movements examined. When the display consisted simply of two dots, and a saccade was made from one to the other, a transient ghost image was seen just beyond the destination target. When the display consisted of vertical lines, tilting and displacement of the lines occurred. The phenomena were more intrusive for the latter display and there was a significant increase in the number of corrective saccades. These results are interpreted in terms of the effects of fluctuating illumination (and hence phosphor persistence) on saccadic suppression.

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