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Journal article

Control of ocular torsion in the rotational vestibulo-ocular reflexes.

  • Hess BJ Department of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. bhess@neurol.uzh.ch
  • 2008-08-23
Published in:
  • Progress in brain research. - 2008
Animals
Eye Movements
Fixation, Ocular
Head Movements
Humans
Motion Perception
Oculomotor Muscles
Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular
Rotation
Visual Perception
English Visual stabilization of the retina during rotational head movements requires that in far vision the eyes rotate about the same axis as the head but in opposite direction with a gain close to unity (optimal strategy). To achieve this goal the vestibulo-oculomotor system must be able to independently control all three rotational degrees of freedom of the eye. Studies of the human rotational vestibulo-ocular reflexes (VOR) have shown that its spatial characteristics are best explained by a strategy that lies halfway between the optimal image stabilization and perfect compliance with Listing's law. Here we argue that these spatial characteristics are fully compatible with an optimal strategy under the condition of a restrained gain of the torsional velocity-to-position integration. One implication of this finding is that the rotational VORs must override the default operation mode of the ocular plant that, according to recent findings, mechanically favours movements obeying Listing's law.
Language
  • English
Open access status
green
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/163805
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