Library

Notes: Summary This study examines long-term (up to 27 days) effects of maintained vision reversal on (i) smooth visual tracking with head still, (ii) oculomotor response to actively generated head oscillation and (iii) ‘spontaneous’ saccades. Dove prism goggles produced horizontal, but not vertical (sagittal plane), vision reversal. Eye movements were recorded by EOG; head movements by an electro-magnetic search coil. Both visual tracking and saccade dynamics remained unchanged throughout. In contrast, both the ocular response to active head osculations (goggles off and subject looking at a stationary target) and associated retinal image blur showed substantial and retained adaptive changes, akin to those previously found in the vestibulo-ocular reflex as tested in darkness at 0.17 Hz. However, several additional unexpected results emerged. First, in the fully adapted state smooth eye movements tended to be of reversed phase in the range 0.5–1.0 Hz (in spite of normal vision during tests), but of normal phase from about 2 Hz and above (in spite of negligible visual tracking in this upper range). Second, after permanent removal of the inverting goggles, this peculiar frequency response of the fully adapted state quickly (36 h) reverted to a dynamically simpler condition manifest as retained (2–3 weeks) attenuation of gain (eye vel./ head vel.) which, as in control conditions, was monotonically related to frequency. From these two findings it is inferred that the fully adapted state may have comprised two separate components: (i) A ‘simple’ element of monotonic and long-lasting gain attenuation and (ii) a ‘complex’, frequency labile, element which could be quickly rejected. Dynamic characteristics of the putative ‘complex’ element were estimated by vectorial subtraction of the ‘simple’ one from that of the fully adapted condition. The outcome suggests that the inferred ‘complex’ condition might represent a predictive element. Two further findings are reported: (i) Substantially different vectors of the adapted response were obtained with normal and reversed vision at 3.0 Hz head oscillation, indicating a novel visual influence acting above the cut-off frequency for visual tracking. (ii) During head oscillation in the vertical sagittal plane (in which vision was not reversed) there was never any image blur, indicating high geometric specificity in the adaptive process.

Notes: Summary The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) can be suppressed in darkness if a subject tries to imagine that he looks at a head fixed target. This mental suppression of VOR was used to induce adaptive changes in VOR gam during 3 h of active head oscillations in complete darkness. VOR gain changes were tested by asking the subject to look at a visual target; then passively or actively the head was turned in darkness while the subject “fixated” the same target. Corrective saccades occurring at the end of the movement when lights were turned on give an elegant measure of VOR gain. Three hours of training induced in 3 subjects a mean of 10.9% and 11.4% decrease of VOR gain for passive and active conditions, respectively. This demonstrates that reflex adaptation can be obtained without external cues, and probably with only an internal reconstruction of target and eye movement.

Notes: Summary 1) This study investigates the early development of adaptive changes in oculomotor function associated with coordinated eye-head tracking of the optically reversed image of an earth-fixed target seen through horizontally reversing dove prism goggles attached to the skull. 2) Two tasks comprised a) fixation of a single target during head rotation which causes the seen target's image to move in the direction of head motion by an amount exactly equal to the head movement itself (the 1-Target task), and b) change of gaze onto a displaced target with head free to move (2-Target task). 3) The 1-Target task requires the eyes to move in a direction opposite to that of the normal vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). The 2-Target task is identical, except that reorientation onto the new target calls for an initial saccadic eye movement in a direction opposite to that of the ensuing head movement, which is contrary to the normal pattern of eye-head coordination during gaze shifts. 4) Eye (EOG) and head (potentiometer) movements were continuously recorded (0–250 Hz) in an apparatus which permitted sudden, unexpected, electromagnetic braking of the head movement, either just before or during the intended manœuvre. 5) Early adaptive strategies employed reduction of VOR gain, rearrangement of timing, amplitude and shape of “catch-up” saccades and the introduction of centrally programmed eye movements uncovered by the braking manœuvres. 6) All of these phenomena were detectable in an initial series of 60 trials, in which the total exposure to visual-vestibular conflict was less than 30 s. They became more systematized and more marked after 6 h of active reversed vision experience. 7) Specifically, mean VOR gain, measured within the first 80 ms of head movement (deemed free of visuomotor influence), became markedly attenuated (25% in the first test series; 66% after 6 h of active visionreversed exercise). In addition (not included in the above percentages) there were numerous occasions of complete absence of measurable VOR during head rotation, in both the first and final test series. 8) In the 1-Target task, the latency of the first “catch-up” saccade (re onset of head movement) tended to offset residual VOR by becoming shortened to the point of synchrony with head movement onset. This saccade (not present in control tests) continued to occur on those occasions when the head was unpredictably prevented from moving, and when head movements were made in the dark. 9) Sometimes these initial “saccades” began normally, but “glissaded” in a graded manner into a “smooth pursuit”like trajectory, resembling the classical glissade associated with pulse-step mismatch in the saccade generating system. 10) All these events represent embryo facsimilies of more advanced adaptive manœuvres seen in an earlier study extending over 19 days of reversed vision experience. 11) It is concluded that the adaptive process is a multifactorial one, exhibiting idiosyncracy in individuals and from time to time. Some phenomena appear in embryo form within seconds of exposure to the new condition. Others, such as progressive VOR gain attenuation, introduction of central programming and advanced strategies of the “glissade” type, developed more slowly over the 6 h period of these experiments.