This is a proposal for the continued study of human eye movement responses to earth horizontal axis rotations. Comparisons will be made with analogous earth vertical axis rotations in order to characterize the response due to subject rotation with respect to gravity,k the putative otolith ocular reflex. Follow up studies in yaw axis, which employ different stimulus conditions, are proposed based upon results of the previous grant period. In addition, newer yaw axis studies will concentrate upon optokinetic nystagmus and afternystagmus and upon the alteration of the otolith ocular reflex using short term canal ocular adaptive experiments. These studies have not been performed elsewhere in humans. The development of pitch axis protocols and acquisition of a normative data base uniformly distributed by age (20 - 79 years) and equally distributed by gender will be undertaken using a newly installed, two channel, magnetic search coil system to measure vertical eye and head movements individually. Selected patients having unilateral peripheral vestibular lesions or cerebellar deficits will be tested in collaboration with an otologist and a neurologist.
| Wall, C; Assad, A; Aharon, G et al. (2001) The human oculomotor response to simultaneous visual and physical movements at two different frequencies. J Vestib Res 11:81-9 |
| Wall 3rd, C; Merfeld, D M; Zupan, L (1999) Effects of static orientation upon human optokinetic afternystagmus. Acta Otolaryngol 119:16-23 |
| Petropoulos, A E; Wall 3rd, C; Oman, C M (1997) Yaw sensory rearrangement alters pitch vestibulo-ocular reflex responses. Acta Otolaryngol 117:647-56 |
| Wall 3rd, C; Payman, R N; Ash-Bernal, R (1994) Effect of target velocity upon horizontal axis otolith-visual interactions. Acta Otolaryngol 114:353-9 |
