Oculomotor Strategies and Their Effect on Reducing Gaze Position Error

Abstract

Objective: Vestibular adaptation exercises have been shown to improve gaze stability during active head rotation in individuals with vestibular hypofunction. Little is known, however, of the types of eye movements used during passive head rotation and their effect on gaze stability in individuals with vestibular hypofunction. The primary purpose of this study was to determine differences in oculomotor strategies and their effect on stabilizing gaze during ipsilesional passive and active head rotations in vestibular hypofunction. Patients: Subjects with unilateral (n = 4) and bilateral (n = 3) vestibular hypofunction and healthy subjects (n = 4) based on bithermal caloric and rotational chair testing. Intervention: Diagnostic. Main Outcome Measure: Head and eye velocity and position data measured with scleral search coil. Results: Subjects with unilateral and bilateral vestibular hypofunction generated 3 types of gaze-stabilizing eye movements with ipsilesional head impulses: slow vestibular ocular reflex, compensatory, and corrective saccades. The types of eye movements generated during active and passive head impulses were highly individualized. Gaze position error was reduced when compensatory saccades were recruited as part of the gaze-stabilizing strategy. Conclusion: Rehabilitation for individuals with vestibular hypofunction should identify individuals' unique gaze stability preferences and attempt to facilitate compensatory saccades.

Description

Keywords

Compensatory saccades, Oculomotor, Vestibular hypofunction, Vestibulo-ocular reflex

Citation

Copyright 2010 Otology & Neurotology. Recommended citation: Schubert, Michael C., Courtney D. Hall, Vallabh Das, Ronald J. Tusa, and Susan J. Herdman. "Oculomotor strategies and their effect on reducing gaze position error." Otology & Neurotology 31, no. 2 (2010): 228-231. DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0b013e3181c2dbae. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Schubert/publication/38065909_Oculomotor_Strategies_and_Their_Effect_on_Reducing_Gaze_Position_Error/links/59ff3841a6fdcca1f29d9ae2/Oculomotor-Strategies-and-Their-Effect-on-Reducing-Gaze-Position-Error.pdf Reproduced in accordance with the original publisher’s licensing terms and with permission from the author(s).