Summary
A study of optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) as produced by monocular or binocular stimulation was carried out in the pigeon. Nystagmus was provoked by constant speed rotation (13 or 36 °/s) of an optokinetic drum lined with alternate black and white vertical stripes. With the animal's head immobilized, the electro-oculogram of each eye was recorded for both directions of rotation.
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I.
Depending on the response to monocular stimulation, the animals were put into three categories: (1) no nystagmus was detected in either eye, (2) nystagmus was found in the stimulated eye only, (3) both eyes displayed nystagmus. Moreover, the percentage of responses was greater for temporal to nasal (T-N) stimulation than for nasal to temporal (N-T) stimulation.
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II.
Computer analysis performed in the last group of animals showed that: (1) In monocular stimulation: (a) OKN of the stimulated eye was asymmetrical, that is, the frequency, amplitude and average slow-phase velocity (¯V) of the nystagmus beats were higher in T-N (preferential direction) stimulation. (b) OKN of the masked eye was symmetrical. (c) OKN of the two eyes was conjugate, but the amplitude and velocity (¯V) were greater in the stimulated eye, this difference being more noticeable in the T-N direction than for the N-T one. (2) In binocular stimulation the monocular effects were partially summated and OKN remained asymmetrical, with a higher amplitude for the T-N stimulated eye.
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III.
OKN was followed by optokinetic after-nystagmus (OKAN) for short durations of stimulation, and by reverse optokinetic after-nystagmus (R-OKAN) for longer durations of stimulation. In both monocular and binocular stimulation the nystagmus response (OKN, OKAN and R-OKAN) was conjugate, but always larger in the eye moving in the T-N direction (slow phase).
The pigeon OKN was compared to that of other species, leading us to propose a correlation between the symmetrical or asymmetrical character of the nystagmus and the frontal or more or less lateral position of the eyes.
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Gioanni, H., Rey, J., Villalobos, J. et al. Optokinetic nystagmus in the pigeon (Columba livia). Exp Brain Res 44, 362–370 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238829
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238829