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Biomedical subjects

L H Snyder

Publications and source records attributed to L H Snyder.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Changes in vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) anticipate changes in vergence angle in monkey.

The axis of head rotation is usually different from the axis of eye rotation. Geometrical considerations show that the eyes translate with respect to visual targets located near the head. In order to accurately stabilize retinal images against this translation, the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) must be modulated inversely with the target's distance. The neural correlate of viewing distance used to modulate the VOR is not known. Since vergence angle is related inversely to viewing distance, an efference copy of instantaneous vergence angle or proprioceptive afferent information from extraocular muscles could be used to adjust the VOR. To examine this hypothesis, we compared the time-course of changes in the VOR with the time-course of changes in vergence angle. The VOR was induced by briefly rotating monkeys about a vertical axis at different times during the execution of vergence eye movements. We found that the amplitude of the VOR changed systematically during the course of a vergence eye movement. On average, the changes in the amplitude of vestibular induced eye movements anticipated changes in vergence angle by 50 msec, but in some instances, up to 200 msec of anticipation was observed. These data suggest that a central command signal rather than an afferent or efferent copy of vergence eye position was used to modulate the VOR.

Animals

Effect of viewing distance and location of the axis of head rotation on the monkey's vestibuloocular reflex. I. Eye movement responses.

1. The vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) stabilizes images on the retina against movements of the head in space. Viewing distance, target eccentricity, and location of the axis of rotation may influence VOR responses because rotation of the head about most axes in space rotates and translates the eyes relative to visual targets. To study the VOR response to combined rotation and translation, monkeys were placed on a rate table and rotated briefly in the dark about a vertical axis that was located in front of or behind the eyes. The monkeys fixated a near or far visual target that was extinguished before the rotation. Eye movements were recorded from both eyes by the use of the search coil technique. 2. Peak eye velocity evoked by the VOR was linearly related to vergence angle for any axis of rotation. The percent change in the VOR with near target viewing relative to far target viewing at a vergence angle of 20 degrees was linearly related to the location of the axis of rotation. Axes located behind the eyes produced positive changes in VOR amplitude, and axes located in front of the eyes produced negative changes in VOR amplitude. An axis of rotation located in the coronal plane containing the centers of rotation of the eyes produced no modification of VOR amplitude. For any axis, the VOR compensated for approximately 90% of the translation of the eye relative to near targets. 3. The initial VOR response was not correct in magnitude but was refined by a series of three temporally delayed corrections of increasing complexity. The earliest VOR-evoked eye movement (10-20 ms after rotation onset) was independent of viewing distance and rotational axis location. In the next 100 ms, eye speed appeared to be sequentially modified three times: within 20 ms by viewing distance; within 30 ms by otolith translation; and within 100 ms by eye translation relative to the visual target. 4. These data suggest a formal model of the VOR consisting of four channels. Channel 1 conveys an unmodified head rotation signal with a pure delay of 10 ms. Channel 2 conveys an angular head velocity signal, modified by viewing distance with a pure delay of 20 ms, but invariant with respect to the location of the axis of rotation. Channel 3 conveys a linear head velocity signal, dependent on the location of the axis of rotation, that is modified by viewing distance with a pure delay of 30 ms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals

Vertical vestibuloocular reflex in cat: asymmetry and adaptation.

1. We studied eye velocity during the first 2 s of the vertical vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) elicited from cats placed on their sides (90 degrees roll position) and rotated about an earth vertical axis. Vestibular stimuli were presented in the dark and consisted of brief trapezoidal velocity profiles. Eye movements were recorded with a magnetic search coil, and eye velocity was analyzed with high temporal resolution. 2. The first 2 s of upward or downward eye velocity after the onset of head rotation was characterized and compared. Adaptive changes in VOR gain (eye/head velocity) were then induced, and upward and downward eye velocity responses were again compared. 3. The early time course of the vertical VOR was complex. After a latency of approximately 15 ms, eye velocity increased rapidly until it was equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to head velocity. The peak eye velocity decayed within less than 1 s to a plateau of slow-phase eye velocity (SPEV) equal to approximately -0.6 times the head velocity. Peak upward and downward eye velocity was symmetric. The transition from peak to plateau was more rapid for the downward VOR (slow phases downward) than for the upward VOR (slow phases upward). The plateau attained by upward SPEV was approximately 15% higher than the plateau attained by downward SPEV. 4. VOR gain adaptation was symmetric. The percentage change in adapted upward eye velocity equalled the percentage change in adapted downward eye velocity. Both peak and plateau SPEV adapted, but peak eye velocity adapted less than plateau eye velocity. VOR latency was unchanged by adaptation. 5. The trajectory of the VOR response to steps of head velocity could be divided into an invariant and a variant interval. The invariant interval consisted of the initial approximately 15 ms of the eye movement. Neither direction of head movement (upward vs. downward) nor adaptation of the VOR gain effected the eye movement trajectory during the invariant interval. The variant interval began approximately 30 ms after the onset of head movement and approximately 15 ms after the onset of eye movement. In unadapted animals, downward eye speed exceeded upward eye speed during the variant interval. In adapted animals, eye speed during the variant interval, but not during the invariant interval, diverged from eye speed in the unadapted state. We suggest that the initial invariant interval (approximately 15 ms) of the eye movement response trajectory may represent the direct response of the classically described three-neuron arc.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Adaptation, Physiological