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Yes / When we track an object moving in depth, our eyes rotate in opposite directions. This type of “disjunctive” eye movement is called horizontal vergence. The sensory control signals for vergence arise from multiple visual cues, two of which, changing binocular disparity (CD) and inter-ocular velocity differences (IOVD), are specifically binocular. While it is well known that the CD cue triggers horizontal vergence eye movements, the role of the IOVD cue has only recently been explored. To better understand the relative contribution of CD and IOVD cues in driving horizontal vergence, we recorded vergence eye movements from ten observers in response to four types of stimuli that isolated or combined the two cues to motion-in-depth, using stimulus conditions and CD/IOVD stimuli typical of behavioural motion-in-depth experiments. An analysis of the slopes of the vergence traces and the consistency of the directions of vergence and stimulus movements showed that under our conditions IOVD cues provided very little input to vergence mechanisms. The eye movements that did occur coinciding with the presentation of IOVD stimuli were likely not a response to stimulus motion, but a phoria initiated by the absence of a disparity signal. / Supported by NIH EY018875 (AMN), BBSRC grants BB/M001660/1 (JH), BB/M002543/1 (AW), and BB/MM001210/1 (MB).

Yes / The issue of whether visually-mediated, simple reaction time (VRT) is faster in elite athletes is contentious. Here, we examined if and how VRT is afected by gaze stability in groups of international cricketers (16 females, 28 males), professional rugby-league players (21 males), and non-sporting controls (20 females, 30 males). VRT was recorded via a button-press response to the sudden appearance of a stimulus (circular target—diameter 0.8°), that was presented centrally, or 7.5° to the left or right of fxation. The incidence and timing of saccades and blinks occurring from 450 ms before stimulus onset to 225 ms after onset were measured to quantify gaze stability. Our results show that (1) cricketers have faster VRT than controls; (2) blinks and, in particular, saccades are associated with slower VRT regardless of the level of sporting ability; (3) elite female cricketers had steadier gaze (fewer saccades and blinks) compared to female controls; (4) when we accounted for the presence of blinks and saccades, our group comparisons of VRT were virtually unchanged. The stability of gaze is not a factor that explains the difference between elite and control groups in VRT. Thus we conclude that better gaze stability cannot explain faster VRT in elite sports players. / Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC, grant references: BB/J018163/1, BB/J016365/1 and BB/J018872/1)

A avaliação da variabilidade inter-individual da atividade funcional é de grande importância na utilização da ressonância magnética funcional (fMRI) no contexto clínico. O objetivo principal desse estudo é analisar a variabilidade da ativação cerebral dos sistemas vestibular e oculomotor, através da fMRI em resposta à estimulação optocinética horizontal e aos movimentos de rastreio e sacade dos olhos. Para isso, imagens por ressonância magnética foram obtidas de vinte e três voluntários assintomáticos (treze para o estudo optocinético e dez para os estudos rastreio e sacade) em um scanner de 1.5 T Siemens (Magneton Vision) com seqüências do tipo EPI-BOLD. Os mapas estatísticos foram obtidos no programa Brain Voyager, utilizando o método Modelo Geral Linear. Encontramos ativação significante no córtex visual primário, ao longo do giro occipital médio e inferior, no giro temporal médio, superior e inferior, no giro pós- e pré-central, ao longo do giro frontal inferior, superior e médio, no giro supramarginal, no lobo parietal superior e inferior, na ínsula e no cíngulo anterior e posterior. Grupos de atividade também foram encontrados em estruturas subcorticais (putamen, globo pálido, corpo caloso e tálamo), além do cerebelo. A análise da freqüência de ativação revelou uma alta variabilidade entre voluntários. Contudo, as regiões com maior freqüência de ativação foram as áreas frontais e a área que compreende o giro temporal médio e médio superior. Utilizamos dois métodos para a análise dos índices de lateralização, o primeiro admite um valor estatístico fixo e o segundo leva em consideração a dependência do limiar estatístico com o número de pixels ativados, o segundo método mostrou-se mais confiável. Os índices mostraram uma dominância do hemisfério direito para o estudo optocinético. Já, para os estudos rastreio e sacade, não verificamos essa dominância. Esse estudo permitiu a caracterização das mais freqüentemente áreas envolvidas nas tarefas de estimulação optocinética e dos movimentos de rastreio e sacade dos olhos. A combinação dessas tarefas constitui uma grande ferramenta para determinar a lateralização dessas funções e mapear as maiores áreas envolvidas nos sistemas oculomotor e vestibular. / Assessing inter-variability of functional activations is of practical importance in the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in clinical context. The main objective of this study is to analyze the variability of cerebral activation of the vestibular and oculomotor systems through an optokinetic horizontal, a pursuit and saccadic eye movement stimulations by means of fMRI. For this, images of magnetic resonance were acquired of twenty and three asymptomatic volunteers (thirteen for the optokinetic study and ten for the pursuit and saccade stimulations) in scanner of 1.5 T Siemens (Magneton Vision) with EPI-BOLD fMRI sequences. The statistical maps were analyzed in Brain Voyager software, using the method General Linear Model. We find significant activation in primary visual cortex, in middle and inferior occipital gyrus, in middle, superior and inferior temporal gyrus, in postcentral and precentral gyrus, in middle, inferior and superior frontal gyrus, in supramarginal gyrus, in superior and inferior parietal lobule, in insula and in anterior and posterior cingulate gyrus. Groups of activity had been also found in subcorticals structures (putamen, globus pallidus, corpus callosum and thalamus), beyond the cerebellum. The analysis of the activation frequency displays a high variability between volunteers. However, the most frequently activation regions were localized in areas frontals and in regions comprehending the middle and medial superior temporal gyrus. We use two methods for the analysis of the laterality index, the first admits a fixed statistical value and the second takes in consideration the dependence of the statistical threshold within the activated number of pixels, the second method revealed more reliability. The indices had shown a right hemisphere dominance for the optokinetic study but, for the pursuit and saccade stimulations, we do not verify this dominance. Our study allowed the characterization of the most frequently involved foci in tasks of optokinetic and pursuit and saccade eye movement stimulations. The combination of these tasks constitutes a suitable tool for determine the lateralization of these functions and for mapping major areas involved in the oculomotor and vestibular systems.

A avaliação da variabilidade inter-individual da atividade funcional é de grande importância na utilização da ressonância magnética funcional (fMRI) no contexto clínico. O objetivo principal desse estudo é analisar a variabilidade da ativação cerebral dos sistemas vestibular e oculomotor, através da fMRI em resposta à estimulação optocinética horizontal e aos movimentos de rastreio e sacade dos olhos. Para isso, imagens por ressonância magnética foram obtidas de vinte e três voluntários assintomáticos (treze para o estudo optocinético e dez para os estudos rastreio e sacade) em um scanner de 1.5 T Siemens (Magneton Vision) com seqüências do tipo EPI-BOLD. Os mapas estatísticos foram obtidos no programa Brain Voyager, utilizando o método Modelo Geral Linear. Encontramos ativação significante no córtex visual primário, ao longo do giro occipital médio e inferior, no giro temporal médio, superior e inferior, no giro pós- e pré-central, ao longo do giro frontal inferior, superior e médio, no giro supramarginal, no lobo parietal superior e inferior, na ínsula e no cíngulo anterior e posterior. Grupos de atividade também foram encontrados em estruturas subcorticais (putamen, globo pálido, corpo caloso e tálamo), além do cerebelo. A análise da freqüência de ativação revelou uma alta variabilidade entre voluntários. Contudo, as regiões com maior freqüência de ativação foram as áreas frontais e a área que compreende o giro temporal médio e médio superior. Utilizamos dois métodos para a análise dos índices de lateralização, o primeiro admite um valor estatístico fixo e o segundo leva em consideração a dependência do limiar estatístico com o número de pixels ativados, o segundo método mostrou-se mais confiável. Os índices mostraram uma dominância do hemisfério direito para o estudo optocinético. Já, para os estudos rastreio e sacade, não verificamos essa dominância. Esse estudo permitiu a caracterização das mais freqüentemente áreas envolvidas nas tarefas de estimulação optocinética e dos movimentos de rastreio e sacade dos olhos. A combinação dessas tarefas constitui uma grande ferramenta para determinar a lateralização dessas funções e mapear as maiores áreas envolvidas nos sistemas oculomotor e vestibular. / Assessing inter-variability of functional activations is of practical importance in the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in clinical context. The main objective of this study is to analyze the variability of cerebral activation of the vestibular and oculomotor systems through an optokinetic horizontal, a pursuit and saccadic eye movement stimulations by means of fMRI. For this, images of magnetic resonance were acquired of twenty and three asymptomatic volunteers (thirteen for the optokinetic study and ten for the pursuit and saccade stimulations) in scanner of 1.5 T Siemens (Magneton Vision) with EPI-BOLD fMRI sequences. The statistical maps were analyzed in Brain Voyager software, using the method General Linear Model. We find significant activation in primary visual cortex, in middle and inferior occipital gyrus, in middle, superior and inferior temporal gyrus, in postcentral and precentral gyrus, in middle, inferior and superior frontal gyrus, in supramarginal gyrus, in superior and inferior parietal lobule, in insula and in anterior and posterior cingulate gyrus. Groups of activity had been also found in subcorticals structures (putamen, globus pallidus, corpus callosum and thalamus), beyond the cerebellum. The analysis of the activation frequency displays a high variability between volunteers. However, the most frequently activation regions were localized in areas frontals and in regions comprehending the middle and medial superior temporal gyrus. We use two methods for the analysis of the laterality index, the first admits a fixed statistical value and the second takes in consideration the dependence of the statistical threshold within the activated number of pixels, the second method revealed more reliability. The indices had shown a right hemisphere dominance for the optokinetic study but, for the pursuit and saccade stimulations, we do not verify this dominance. Our study allowed the characterization of the most frequently involved foci in tasks of optokinetic and pursuit and saccade eye movement stimulations. The combination of these tasks constitutes a suitable tool for determine the lateralization of these functions and for mapping major areas involved in the oculomotor and vestibular systems.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive, neurological movement disorder. The stability of eye movements in PD is not well understood but many patients report difficulty doing tasks that require stabilized fixation and gaze. The ability to stabilize an image on the retina is critical is acquiring visual information. The purpose of this study was to compare the stability of fixational eye movements of PD patients to those of age-matched controls. Eye movements during simple fixation tasks were recorded from 66 subjects (ages 52 to 84), and 36 age-matched controls (ages 58-85). The absolute velocity of the fixational eye movements were recorded and correlated to a clinical measure of disease progression as measured by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Unstable, non-rhythmic eye movements were seen in the PD patients. There were significant differences in the absolute velocity and standard deviation between the control group and the PD group in both the horizontal and vertical directions. The correlation of the absolute velocity to the UPDRS was not significant. Parkinson's disease does appear to affect the stability of eye movements. The instabilities in the eye movements appear to precede body tremor. This could lead to an early method for diagnosis and analysis of the disease.

Neurologinių sutrikimų nustatymui dažnai naudojamas sekamųjų akių judesių tyrimas. Tačiau mokslinėje literatūroje nėra detaliai išnagrinėtas vienas sekamųjų akių judesių parametras – pasivejančių sakadų tarpsakadinis laiko intervalas. Taip pat, pasivejančių sakadų parametrų priklausomybė nuo sekamo objekto trajektorijos ir greičio nėra aiški. Šio darbo tikslas - ištirti sekimo paklaidos, sakadų dažnio aplink okliuzijas ir tarpsakadinių laiko intervalų priklausomybę nuo sekamo objekto trajektorijos tipo ir jo judėjimo greičio. / Human oculomotor system analysis is often used to diagnose neurological disorders by studying tracking eye movements of the patient. However, one of the parameters of tracking eye movements is not thoroughly investigated – the intersaccadic interval of catch up saccades. Also, dependencies of parameters of catch-up saccades on different target trajectories and velocities are not clear. The aim of this paper is to study the dependency of tracking error, frequency distribution around occlusions and intersaccadic interval of catch-up saccades on target trajectory and velocity.