title: Stability of the saccadic oculomotor system.
abstract: A variety of different types of instability has been found in the saccadic system of humans. Some of the instabilities correspond to clinical conditions, whereas others are inherent in the normal saccadic system. How can these instabilities arise within the mechanism of normal saccadic eye movements? A physiologically-based model of the saccadic system predicts that horizontal saccadic oscillations will occur with excessive mutual inhibition between the left and right burst cells and with underaction of the pause cells. The amplitudes and frequencies of the oscillations had ranges of 0-6 degrees and 6-20 cycles per second, respectively. Application of stability analysis techniques to the model reveals that development of the oscillations can be explained by the Hopf bifurcation mechanism. Future development of this approach will involve classifying pathological instabilities of the saccadic system according to the bifurcation involved in their generation.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK.
authors.forename: Dmitry
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Laptev
authors.forename: Ozgur E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Akman
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Clement
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D009802:Oculomotor Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012438:Saccades / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors