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Ocular Motor System Control Models and the Cerebellum: Hypothetical Mechanisms

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Abstract

To review our studies and “top-down” models of saccadic intrusions and infantile nystagmus syndrome with the aim of hypothesizing areas of cerebellar connections controlling parts of the ocular motor subsystems involved in both types of function and dysfunction. The methods of eye-movement recording and modeling are described in detail in the cited references. Saccadic intrusions, such as square-wave jerks and square-wave oscillations, can be simulated by a single malfunction, whereas staircase saccadic intrusions required two independent malfunctions. The major infantile nystagmus syndrome waveforms are traceable to a failure to calibrate the damping ratio of the smooth pursuit system. The use of a behavioral ocular motor system model demonstrated how putative cerebellar dysfunctions could accurately simulate both the oscillations and the ocular motor responses seen in patients with both saccadic and pursuit disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. From the Daroff-Dell’Osso Ocular Motility Laboratory, Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and CASE Medical School; and the Department of Neurology, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, 10701 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA

    Louis F. Dell’Osso

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  1. Louis F. Dell’Osso
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Correspondence to Louis F. Dell’Osso.

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This work was supported in part by the Office of Research and Development, Medical Research Service, Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Dell’Osso, L.F. Ocular Motor System Control Models and the Cerebellum: Hypothetical Mechanisms. Cerebellum 18, 605–614 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-018-1001-y

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