title: Cross axis vestibulo-ocular reflex induced by pursuit training in alert monkeys.
abstract: We examined the effect of conflicting vestibular and smooth pursuit information on the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) in alert monkeys. Sinusoidal whole body rotation was applied either in the pitch or yaw plane while presenting a target spot that moved orthogonally to the rotation plane. The monkeys were rewarded for tracking the spot and eye movements induced by rotation alone were examined every 15-30 min in complete darkness. Orthogonal eye movement responses to rotation were not observed before training but appeared after about 30 min of training. The gains (eye/chair) of the orthogonal component increased up to 0.2 after 1-2 h and were largest at the training frequency and approximately in phase with the stimulus; phase advanced at lower frequencies and lagged at higher frequencies. Amplitude tuning was also demonstrated when examined using different amplitudes at a constant frequency after training. Two hours of training to fixate an earth-stationary spot projected onto a patterned visual background that moved orthogonally to the rotation plane during rotation, did not induce a cross axis response. These results indicate that pursuit training during VOR is effective in inducing cross-axis eye movement responses that are tuned to the metrics of the training stimulus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan. kikuro@med.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fukushima
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsunekawa
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Kaneko
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000818:Animals; D005133:Eye Movements; D008251:Macaca; D008297:Male; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal; D011698:Pursuit, Smooth; D012027:Reflex, Vestibulo-Ocular; D012399:Rotation