Primate translational vestibuloocular reflexes. I. High-frequency dynamics and three-dimensional properties during lateral motion

Abstract

The dynamics and three-dimensional (3-D) properties of the primate translational vestibuloocular reflex (trVOR) for high-frequency (4-12 Hz, +/-0.3-0.4 g) lateral motion were investigated during near-target viewing at center and eccentric targets. Horizontal response gains increased with frequency and depended on target eccentricity. The larger the horizontal and vertical target eccentricity, the steeper the dependence of horizontal response gain on frequency. In addition to horizontal eye movements, robust torsional response components also were present at all frequencies. During center-target fixation, torsional response phase was opposite (anticompensatory) to that expected for an "apparent" tilt response. Instead torsional response components depended systematically on vertical-target eccentricity, increasing in amplitude when looking down and reversing phase when looking up. As a result the trVOR eye velocity vector systematically tilted away from a purely horizontal direction, through an angle that increased with vertical eccentricity with a slope of approximately 0.7. This systematic dependence of torsional eye velocity tilt on vertical eye position suggests that the trVOR might follow the 3-D kinematic requirements that have been shown to govern visually guided eye movements and near-target fixation.