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Development and plasticity of visual and vestibular generated eye movements

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Summary

Slow phase horizontal eye movements, elicited by the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) and/or visual pursuit (VP) systems, were examined in normal children (NC, 9–16 years) and normal adults (NA). At slow frequencies of sinusoidal stimulation of the body (with the head immobilized) and/or of a visual target, the NC (9–12 years) exhibited (a) immature VP and VOR Suppression and mature VOR Enhancement in the presence of a visual image; (b) immature VOR Suppression and mature VOR Enhancement in the presence of a non-visual image of the spatial location of a visual target, an extra-retinal signal; (c) inability to augment or depress the VOR gain with a non-visual image; (d) mature VOR Suppression ratios; and (e) adjustment of VOR gain to a high value. The maturational process was featured by (a) parallel development of VP and VOR Suppression; (b) modification of the VOR gain; and (c) an increasing ability to augment or depress the VOR with a non-visual image. The observations in NC (9–12) are ascribed to a maturational lag of an extra-retinal process interacting with mature retinal and vestibular processes and, hence, suggest that both the retinal and vestibular contributions to ocular stability predate the development of an extra-retinal signal. When mature, the central nervous system utilizes both extra-retinal and retinal signals to mediate adaptive regulation of VOR gain and to preserve stable visual pursuit motion and VOR Suppression. Our findings also suggest that during tasks requiring visual-vestibular interaction, VP and VOR mechanisms appear to be indirectly rather than directly coupled.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Depts. of Rehabilitation Medicine and Neurosurgery, Temple University Health Sciences Center (and Krusen Research Center, Moss Hospital), 19140, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    R. Herman MD, R. Maulucci & J. Stuyck

  2. Dept. of Rehabilitation Medicine, Brain Research Laboratory, Fox Chase Cancer Center, 19111, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    R. Herman MD & R. Maulucci

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  1. R. Herman MD
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  2. R. Maulucci
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  3. J. Stuyck
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Supported in part by a grant from the Rehabilitation Services Administration, H.E.W. (23-P555-18/3)

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Herman, R., Maulucci, R. & Stuyck, J. Development and plasticity of visual and vestibular generated eye movements. Exp Brain Res 47, 69–78 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235888

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235888

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