Summary
In alert Rhesus monkeys neuronal activity in the vestibular nuclei was measured during horizontal angular acceleration in darkness, acceleration of an optokinetic stimulus, and combined visual-vestibular stimulation. The working ranges for visual input velocity and acceleration extend up to 60 °/s and 5 °/s2. The corresponding working range for vestibular input acceleration is wider and time-dependent. During combined stimulation, that is acceleration of the monkey in the light, a linear relation between neuronal activity and velocity could be established for all neurons. Type I vestibular plus eye movement neurons displayed the greatest sensitivity and had a small linear range of operation. Other vestibular neurons were less sensitive but had a larger range of linear response to different values of acceleration. Accelerating the animal and visual surround, simultaneously but in opposite directions, results in neuronal activity proportional to relative velocity over a limited range.
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Supported by a grant from the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research 3.672-0.77
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Waespe, W., Henn, V. The velocity response of vestibular nucleus neurons during vestibular, visual, and combined angular acceleration. Exp Brain Res 37, 337–347 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237718
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237718