2 results
Visual and vestibular reflexes that stabilize gaze in the chameleon
- Henri Gioanni, Mohamed Bennis, Annie Sansonetti
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- Journal:
- Visual Neuroscience / Volume 10 / Issue 5 / September 1993
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 June 2009, pp. 947-956
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Spontaneous eye movements as well as visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive cervical reflexes which contribute to gaze stabilization were investigated in the chameleon using the magnetic search-coil technique. The oculomotor range of each eye was very large (180 deg horizontally × 80 deg vertically). Spontaneous ocular saccades were independent in the two eyes and could have very large amplitudes. The fast phases of nystagmus during the stabilization reflexes were also independent in the eyes. In the head-restrained condition, optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) had a low gain in both horizontal and vertical planes (0.35 at 5 deg/s) and showed little binocular interaction. The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) exhibited a low gain (0.2–0.3 from 0.05–1 Hz) and a high-phase lead at low frequency (140 deg at 0.05 Hz). Rotation of the animal in the presence of a visible surround increased the overall gain of gaze stabilization to 0.4–0.5 (P < 0.01) and considerably reduced the phase lead (38 deg at 0.05 Hz). In the head-free condition, head and eye reflexes were active simultaneously during both optokinetic and vestibular stimulation, but nystagmic head movements appeared only occasionally with a rather loose eye-head coordination. During optokinetic stimulation, eye movements contributed more than head movements to gaze stabilization, whereas, during vestibular or visuo-vestibular stimulation, the relative contribution of eye and head responses varied with stimulus frequency. When the head was freed, overall gain for gaze stabilization increased from 0.35 to 0.45 (P < 0.05) for optokinetic stimulation at 5 deg/s and from 0.2–0.3 to 0.4–0.75 (P < 0.001) for vestibular stimulation at 0.05–1 Hz. Optimal gaze stabilization (gain of 0.8) was only obtained with combined visual and vestibular stimulation in the free-head condition. Cervical stimulation provoked a compensatory cervico-ocular reflex (COR) with a gain of 0.2–0.4 as well as ocular saccades, which were especially numerous in the presence of a visual surround. The direction of these saccades alternated between compensatory and anti-compensatory.
Characteristics of cervico-ocular responses in the chameleon
- Henri Gioanni, Annie Sansonetti, Mohamed Bennis
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- Journal:
- Visual Neuroscience / Volume 14 / Issue 6 / November 1997
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 June 2009, pp. 1175-1184
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The cervico-ocular reflex (COR) was investigated in the chameleon. Two kinds of responses were observed by oscillating the body (sine-wave stimuli) in the fixed-head animal: a "smooth response" of very low gain (around 0.08) and a saccadic response composed of 1–12 saccades per cycle of stimulation (depending on the stimulation frequency). Both responses were elicited in the compensatory direction (same direction as the stimulation) and exhibited a frequency dependence with low-pass properties. The saccadic response was especially developed and displayed a higher gain (up to 0.4) than the smooth response. In darkness, the saccades were triggered near the zero point (head-body alignment), whereas in the presence of a fixed visual surround they were elicited more regularly throughout the stimulation cycle. The amplitude of saccades was increased in the light. Consequently, the gain and the phase lag of the saccadic reponse were enhanced by the visual input. No visuo-cervical interaction was observed for the smooth response. Oscillating the body at a constant velocity (seesaw or ramp stimuli) revealed a frequency effect on the number of saccades (during a cycle of stimulation), but not on the gain of the response. Increasing the amplitude of oscillations augmented only very slightly the amplitude of saccades and consequently decreased the gain. Hence, the best working range of the saccadic response corresponds to body or head movements of low amplitude (up to ±20 deg) and low frequency (up to 0.25 Hz), and is improved by a visual input. These properties are discussed on a comparative point of view. It is proposed that, in chameleons, the saccadic response could contribute to gaze stabilization and add to the vestibulo-ocular and the optokinetic responses.