Visual control of postural orientation and equilibrium in congenital nystagmus.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate how humans with congenital nystagmus (CN) use visual information to stabilize and orient their bodies in space.


METHODS
Center of foot pressure (COP) and head displacements in the lateral plane were recorded using a sway platform and Schottky barrier photodetector, respectively. In experiment 1, a comparison was made of the oscillatory characteristics of body sway with eyes open compared with eyes closed. Experiment 2 studied the postural readjustments made in response to absolute or relative motion (motion parallax) of objects in the visual scene, generated by lateral displacement of background scenery.


RESULTS
Experiment 1 revealed that subjects with CN were not able to use visual information to stabilize COP but were able to stabilize the head at frequencies lower than 1 Hz. Experiment 2 showed that in response to the displacement of a visual display, for both absolute motion and motion parallax, subjects with CN reoriented their body in space in a manner similar to control subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that despite involuntary eye movements, subjects with CN use orientation cues to control their posture, but not dynamic cues useful to control the rapid oscillations that are particularly important at the level of COP. These findings suggest that in CN, visual control of posture is restricted by low-frequency sampling of the visual scene.
Guerraz
M
M
Medical Research Council Human Movement and Balance Unit, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom. m.guerraz@ion.ucl.ac.uk
Shallo-Hoffmann
J
J
Yarrow
K
K
Thilo
K V
KV
Bronstein
A M
AM
Gresty
M A
MA
D000328:Adult; D003867:Depth Perception; D004585:Electrooculography; D005133:Eye Movements / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020417:Nystagmus, Congenital / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*