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Thady RG, Emerson LC, Swaddle JP. Evaluating acoustic signals to reduce avian collision risk. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13313. [PMID: 35573177 PMCID: PMC9104101 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Collisions with human-made structures are responsible for billions of bird deaths each year, resulting in ecological damage as well as regulatory and financial burdens to many industries. Acoustic signals can alert birds to obstacles in their flight paths in order to mitigate collisions, but these signals should be tailored to the sensory ecology of birds in flight as the effectiveness of various acoustic signals potentially depends on the influence of background noise and the relative ability of various sound types to propagate within a landscape. We measured changes in flight behaviors from zebra finches released into a flight corridor containing a physical obstacle, either in no-additional-sound control conditions or when exposed to one of four acoustic signals. We selected signals to test two frequency ranges (4-6 kHz or 6-8 kHz) and two temporal modulation patterns (broadband or frequency-modulated oscillating) to determine whether any particular combination of sound attributes elicited the strongest collision avoidance behaviors. We found that, relative to control flights, all sound treatments caused birds to maintain a greater distance from hazards and to adjust their flight trajectories before coming close to obstacles. There were no statistical differences among different sound treatments, but consistent trends within the data suggest that the 4-6 kHz frequency-modulated oscillating signal elicited the strongest avoidance behaviors. We conclude that a variety of acoustic signals can be effective as avian collision deterrents, at least in the context in which we tested these birds. These results may be most directly applicable in scenarios when birds are at risk of collisions with solid structures, such as wind turbines and communication towers, as opposed to window collisions or collisions involving artificial lighting. We recommend the incorporation of acoustic signals into multimodal collision deterrents and demonstrate the value of using behavioral data to assess collision risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin G. Thady
- Biology Department, William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, United States of America
| | - Lauren C. Emerson
- Biology Department, William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, United States of America
| | - John P. Swaddle
- Biology Department, William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, United States of America,Institute for Integrative Conservation, William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, United States of America
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2
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Ballell A, King JL, Neenan JM, Rayfield EJ, Benton MJ. The braincase, brain and palaeobiology of the basal sauropodomorph dinosaur Thecodontosaurus antiquus. Zool J Linn Soc 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Sauropodomorph dinosaurs underwent drastic changes in their anatomy and ecology throughout their evolution. The Late Triassic Thecodontosaurus antiquus occupies a basal position within Sauropodomorpha, being a key taxon for documenting how those morphofunctional transitions occurred. Here, we redescribe the braincase osteology and reconstruct the neuroanatomy of Thecodontosaurus, based on computed tomography data. The braincase of Thecodontosaurus shares the presence of medial basioccipital components of the basal tubera and a U-shaped basioccipital–parabasisphenoid suture with other basal sauropodomorphs and shows a distinct combination of characters: a straight outline of the braincase floor, an undivided metotic foramen, an unossified gap, large floccular fossae, basipterygoid processes perpendicular to the cultriform process in lateral view and a rhomboid foramen magnum. We reinterpret these braincase features in the light of new discoveries in dinosaur anatomy. Our endocranial reconstruction reveals important aspects of the palaeobiology of Thecodontosaurus, supporting a bipedal stance and cursorial habits, with adaptations to retain a steady head and gaze while moving. We also estimate its hearing frequency and range based on endosseous labyrinth morphology. Our study provides new information on the pattern of braincase and endocranial evolution in Sauropodomorpha.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Ballell
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - J Logan King
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - James M Neenan
- Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford, UK
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3
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Theunissen LM, Troje NF. Head Stabilization in the Pigeon: Role of Vision to Correct for Translational and Rotational Disturbances. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:551. [PMID: 29051726 PMCID: PMC5633612 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Accepted: 09/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Stabilization of the head in animals with limited capacity to move their eyes is key to maintain a stable image on the retina. In many birds, including pigeons, a prominent example for the important role of head stabilization is the characteristic head-bobbing behavior observed during walking. Multimodal sensory feedback from the eyes, the vestibular system and proprioceptors in body and neck is required to control head stabilization. Here, we trained unrestrained pigeons (Columba livia) to stand on a perch that was sinusoidally moved with a motion platform along all three translational and three rotational degrees of freedom. We varied the frequency of the perturbation and we recorded the pigeons' responses under both light and dark conditions. Head, body, and platform movements were assessed with a high-speed motion capture system and the data were used to compute gain and phase of head and body movements in response to the perturbations. Comparing responses under dark and light conditions, we estimated the contribution of visual feedback to the control of the head. Our results show that the head followed the movement of the motion platform to a large extent during translations, but it was almost perfectly stabilized against rotations. Visual feedback only improved head stabilization during translations but not during rotations. The body compensated rotations around the forward-backward and the lateral axis, but did not contribute to head stabilization during translations and rotations around the vertical axis. From the results, we conclude that head stabilization in response to translations and rotations depends on different sensory feedback and that visual feedback plays only a limited role for head stabilization during standing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leslie M Theunissen
- Biomotion Lab, Department of Psychology, Department of Biology, School of Computing, Queen's University Kingston, Kingston, ON, Canada.,Applied Cognitive Psychology, Faculty of Engineering, Computer Science and Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany
| | - Nikolaus F Troje
- Biomotion Lab, Department of Psychology, Department of Biology, School of Computing, Queen's University Kingston, Kingston, ON, Canada
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4
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Kretschmer F, Tariq M, Chatila W, Wu B, Badea TC. Comparison of optomotor and optokinetic reflexes in mice. J Neurophysiol 2017; 118:300-316. [PMID: 28424291 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00055.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Revised: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 04/12/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
During animal locomotion or position adjustments, the visual system uses image stabilization reflexes to compensate for global shifts in the visual scene. These reflexes elicit compensatory head movements (optomotor response, OMR) in unrestrained animals or compensatory eye movements (optokinetic response, OKR) in head-fixed or unrestrained animals exposed to globally rotating striped patterns. In mice, OMR are relatively easy to observe and find broad use in the rapid evaluation of visual function. OKR determinations are more involved experimentally but yield more stereotypical, easily quantifiable results. The relative contributions of head and eye movements to image stabilization in mice have not been investigated. We are using newly developed software and apparatus to accurately quantitate mouse head movements during OMR, quantitate eye movements during OKR, and determine eye movements in freely behaving mice. We provide the first direct comparison of OMR and OKR gains (head or eye velocity/stimulus velocity) and find that the two reflexes have comparable dependencies on stimulus luminance, contrast, spatial frequency, and velocity. OMR and OKR are similarly affected in genetically modified mice with defects in retinal ganglion cells (RGC) compared with wild-type, suggesting they are driven by the same sensory input (RGC type). OKR eye movements have much higher gains than the OMR head movements, but neither can fully compensate global visual shifts. However, combined eye and head movements can be detected in unrestrained mice performing OMR, suggesting they can cooperate to achieve image stabilization, as previously described for other species.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We provide the first quantitation of head gain during optomotor response in mice and show that optomotor and optokinetic responses have similar psychometric curves. Head gains are far smaller than eye gains. Unrestrained mice combine head and eye movements to respond to visual stimuli, and both monocular and binocular fields are used during optokinetic responses. Mouse OMR and OKR movements are heterogeneous under optimal and suboptimal stimulation and are affected in mice lacking ON direction-selective retinal ganglion cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Friedrich Kretschmer
- Retinal Circuit Development & Genetics Unit, Neurobiology Neurodegeneration & Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Momina Tariq
- Retinal Circuit Development & Genetics Unit, Neurobiology Neurodegeneration & Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Walid Chatila
- Retinal Circuit Development & Genetics Unit, Neurobiology Neurodegeneration & Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Beverly Wu
- Retinal Circuit Development & Genetics Unit, Neurobiology Neurodegeneration & Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Tudor Constantin Badea
- Retinal Circuit Development & Genetics Unit, Neurobiology Neurodegeneration & Repair Laboratory, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
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Altshuler DL, Bahlman JW, Dakin R, Gaede AH, Goller B, Lentink D, Segre PS, Skandalis DA. The biophysics of bird flight: functional relationships integrate aerodynamics, morphology, kinematics, muscles, and sensors. CAN J ZOOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2015-0103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Bird flight is a remarkable adaptation that has allowed the approximately 10 000 extant species to colonize all terrestrial habitats on earth including high elevations, polar regions, distant islands, arid deserts, and many others. Birds exhibit numerous physiological and biomechanical adaptations for flight. Although bird flight is often studied at the level of aerodynamics, morphology, wingbeat kinematics, muscle activity, or sensory guidance independently, in reality these systems are naturally integrated. There has been an abundance of new studies in these mechanistic aspects of avian biology but comparatively less recent work on the physiological ecology of avian flight. Here we review research at the interface of the systems used in flight control and discuss several common themes. Modulation of aerodynamic forces to respond to different challenges is driven by three primary mechanisms: wing velocity about the shoulder, shape within the wing, and angle of attack. For birds that flap, the distinction between velocity and shape modulation synthesizes diverse studies in morphology, wing motion, and motor control. Recently developed tools for studying bird flight are influencing multiple areas of investigation, and in particular the role of sensory systems in flight control. How sensory information is transformed into motor commands in the avian brain remains, however, a largely unexplored frontier.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas L. Altshuler
- Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Joseph W. Bahlman
- Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Roslyn Dakin
- Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Andrea H. Gaede
- Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Benjamin Goller
- Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - David Lentink
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Paolo S. Segre
- Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Dimitri A. Skandalis
- Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
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6
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Kress D, van Bokhorst E, Lentink D. How Lovebirds Maneuver Rapidly Using Super-Fast Head Saccades and Image Feature Stabilization. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0129287. [PMID: 26107413 PMCID: PMC4481315 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2014] [Accepted: 05/06/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Diurnal flying animals such as birds depend primarily on vision to coordinate their flight path during goal-directed flight tasks. To extract the spatial structure of the surrounding environment, birds are thought to use retinal image motion (optical flow) that is primarily induced by motion of their head. It is unclear what gaze behaviors birds perform to support visuomotor control during rapid maneuvering flight in which they continuously switch between flight modes. To analyze this, we measured the gaze behavior of rapidly turning lovebirds in a goal-directed task: take-off and fly away from a perch, turn on a dime, and fly back and land on the same perch. High-speed flight recordings revealed that rapidly turning lovebirds perform a remarkable stereotypical gaze behavior with peak saccadic head turns up to 2700 degrees per second, as fast as insects, enabled by fast neck muscles. In between saccades, gaze orientation is held constant. By comparing saccade and wingbeat phase, we find that these super-fast saccades are coordinated with the downstroke when the lateral visual field is occluded by the wings. Lovebirds thus maximize visual perception by overlying behaviors that impair vision, which helps coordinate maneuvers. Before the turn, lovebirds keep a high contrast edge in their visual midline. Similarly, before landing, the lovebirds stabilize the center of the perch in their visual midline. The perch on which the birds land swings, like a branch in the wind, and we find that retinal size of the perch is the most parsimonious visual cue to initiate landing. Our observations show that rapidly maneuvering birds use precisely timed stereotypic gaze behaviors consisting of rapid head turns and frontal feature stabilization, which facilitates optical flow based flight control. Similar gaze behaviors have been reported for visually navigating humans. This finding can inspire more effective vision-based autopilots for drones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kress
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Evelien van Bokhorst
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America; Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics, City University London, London, United Kingdom
| | - David Lentink
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States of America; Experimental Zoology Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
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7
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Yorzinski JL, Patricelli GL, Platt ML, Land MF. Eye and head movements shape gaze shifts in Indian peafowl. J Exp Biol 2015; 218:3771-6. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.129544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2015] [Accepted: 09/29/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Animals selectively direct their visual attention toward relevant aspects of their environments. They can shift their attention using a combination of eye, head, and body movements. While we have a growing understanding of eye and head movements in mammals, we know little about these processes in birds. We therefore measured the eye and head movements of freely-behaving Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) using a telemetric eye-tracker. Both eye and head movements contributed to gaze changes in peafowl. When gaze shifts were smaller, eye movements played a larger role than when gaze shifts were larger. The duration and velocity of eye and head movements were positively related to the size of the eye and head movements, respectively. In addition, the coordination of eye and head movements in peafowl differed from mammals; peafowl exhibited a near absence of the vestibulo-ocular reflex, which may partly result from the peafowl's ability to move their heads as quickly as their eyes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica L. Yorzinski
- Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Animal Sciences, Purdue University, 915 West State Street, West Lafayette IN 47907, USA
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group and Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Gail L. Patricelli
- Animal Behavior Graduate Group and Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Michael L. Platt
- Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Marketing Department, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Michael F. Land
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QG, United Kingdom
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8
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Eye movements of vertebrates and their relation to eye form and function. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2014; 201:195-214. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-014-0964-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2014] [Revised: 11/01/2014] [Accepted: 11/02/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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9
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Mitchell DE, Dai C, Rahman MA, Ahn JH, Della Santina CC, Cullen KE. Head movements evoked in alert rhesus monkey by vestibular prosthesis stimulation: implications for postural and gaze stabilization. PLoS One 2013; 8:e78767. [PMID: 24147142 PMCID: PMC3798420 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2013] [Accepted: 09/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The vestibular system detects motion of the head in space and in turn generates reflexes that are vital for our daily activities. The eye movements produced by the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) play an essential role in stabilizing the visual axis (gaze), while vestibulo-spinal reflexes ensure the maintenance of head and body posture. The neuronal pathways from the vestibular periphery to the cervical spinal cord potentially serve a dual role, since they function to stabilize the head relative to inertial space and could thus contribute to gaze (eye-in-head + head-in-space) and posture stabilization. To date, however, the functional significance of vestibular-neck pathways in alert primates remains a matter of debate. Here we used a vestibular prosthesis to 1) quantify vestibularly-driven head movements in primates, and 2) assess whether these evoked head movements make a significant contribution to gaze as well as postural stabilization. We stimulated electrodes implanted in the horizontal semicircular canal of alert rhesus monkeys, and measured the head and eye movements evoked during a 100 ms time period for which the contribution of longer latency voluntary inputs to the neck would be minimal. Our results show that prosthetic stimulation evoked significant head movements with latencies consistent with known vestibulo-spinal pathways. Furthermore, while the evoked head movements were substantially smaller than the coincidently evoked eye movements, they made a significant contribution to gaze stabilization, complementing the VOR to ensure that the appropriate gaze response is achieved. We speculate that analogous compensatory head movements will be evoked when implanted prosthetic devices are transitioned to human patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana E. Mitchell
- Department of Physiology McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Chenkai Dai
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Mehdi A. Rahman
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Joong Ho Ahn
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Charles C. Della Santina
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
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10
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Gioanni H, Vidal PP. Possible cues driving context-specific adaptation of optocollic reflex in pigeons (Columba livia). J Neurophysiol 2011; 107:704-17. [PMID: 22049337 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00684.2011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Context-specific adaptation (Shelhamer M, Clendaniel R. Neurosci Lett 332: 200-204, 2002) explains that reflexive responses can be maintained with different "calibrations" for different situations (contexts). Which context cues are crucial and how they combine to evoke context-specific adaptation is not fully understood. Gaze stabilization in birds is a nice model with which to tackle that question. Previous data showed that when pigeons (Columba livia) were hung in a harness and subjected to a frontal airstream provoking a flying posture ("flying condition"), the working range of the optokinetic head response [optocollic reflex (OCR)] extended toward higher velocities compared with the "resting condition." The present study was aimed at identifying which context cues are instrumental in recalibrating the OCR. We investigated that question by using vibrating stimuli delivered during the OCR provoked by rotating the visual surroundings at different velocities. The OCR gain increase and the boost of the fast phase velocity observed during the "flying condition" were mimicked by body vibration. On the other hand, the newly emerged relationship between the fast-phase and slow-phase velocities in the "flying condition" was mimicked by head vibration. Spinal cord lesion at the lumbosacral level decreased the effects of body vibration, whereas lesions of the lumbosacral apparatus had no effect. Our data suggest a major role of muscular proprioception in the context-specific adaptation of the stabilizing behavior, while the vestibular system could contribute to the context-specific adaptation of the orienting behavior. Participation of an efferent copy of the motor command driving the flight cannot be excluded.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henri Gioanni
- Centre d’étude de la Sensorimotricité, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, UMR-CNRS 8194, Paris, France.
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11
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McArthur KL, Zakir M, Haque A, Dickman JD. Spatial and temporal characteristics of vestibular convergence. Neuroscience 2011; 192:361-71. [PMID: 21756981 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.06.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2011] [Revised: 06/22/2011] [Accepted: 06/23/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
In all species studied, afferents from semicircular canals and otolith organs converge on central neurons in the brainstem. However, the spatial and temporal relationships between converging inputs and how these contribute to vestibular behaviors is not well understood. In the current study, we used discrete rotational and translational motion stimuli to characterize canal- and otolith-driven response components of convergent non-eye movement (NEM) neurons in the vestibular nuclear complex of alert pigeons. When compared to afferent responses, convergent canal signals had similar gain and phase ranges but exhibited greater spatial variability in their axes of preferred rotation. Convergent otolith signals also had similar mean gain and phase values to the afferent population but were spatially well-matched with the corresponding canal signals, cell-by-cell. However, neither response component alone nor a simple linear combination of these components was sufficient to predict actual net responses during combined canal-otolith stimulation. We discuss these findings in the context of previous studies of pigeon vestibular behaviors, and we compare our findings to similar studies in other species.
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Affiliation(s)
- K L McArthur
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
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12
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McArthur KL, Dickman JD. State-dependent sensorimotor processing: gaze and posture stability during simulated flight in birds. J Neurophysiol 2011; 105:1689-700. [PMID: 21307332 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00981.2010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Vestibular responses play an important role in maintaining gaze and posture stability during rotational motion. Previous studies suggest that these responses are state dependent, their expression varying with the environmental and locomotor conditions of the animal. In this study, we simulated an ethologically relevant state in the laboratory to study state-dependent vestibular responses in birds. We used frontal airflow to simulate gliding flight and measured pigeons' eye, head, and tail responses to rotational motion in darkness, under both head-fixed and head-free conditions. We show that both eye and head response gains are significantly higher during flight, thus enhancing gaze and head-in-space stability. We also characterize state-specific tail responses to pitch and roll rotation that would help to maintain body-in-space orientation during flight. These results demonstrate that vestibular sensorimotor processing is not fixed but depends instead on the animal's behavioral state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly L McArthur
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
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13
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Eckmeier D, Geurten BRH, Kress D, Mertes M, Kern R, Egelhaaf M, Bischof HJ. Gaze strategy in the free flying zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). PLoS One 2008; 3:e3956. [PMID: 19107185 PMCID: PMC2600564 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2008] [Accepted: 11/17/2008] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Fast moving animals depend on cues derived from the optic flow on their retina. Optic flow from translational locomotion includes information about the three-dimensional composition of the environment, while optic flow experienced during a rotational self motion does not. Thus, a saccadic gaze strategy that segregates rotations from translational movements during locomotion will facilitate extraction of spatial information from the visual input. We analysed whether birds use such a strategy by highspeed video recording zebra finches from two directions during an obstacle avoidance task. Each frame of the recording was examined to derive position and orientation of the beak in three-dimensional space. The data show that in all flights the head orientation was shifted in a saccadic fashion and was kept straight between saccades. Therefore, birds use a gaze strategy that actively stabilizes their gaze during translation to simplify optic flow based navigation. This is the first evidence of birds actively optimizing optic flow during flight.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Eckmeier
- Lehrstuhl für Verhaltensforschung, Universität Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany.
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14
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Haque A, Zakir M, Dickman JD. Recovery of gaze stability during vestibular regeneration. J Neurophysiol 2007; 99:853-65. [PMID: 18045999 DOI: 10.1152/jn.01038.2007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Many motion related behaviors, such as gaze stabilization, balance, orientation, and navigation largely depend on a properly functioning vestibular system. After vestibular insult, many of these responses are compromised but can return during the regeneration of vestibular receptors and afferents as is known to occur in birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Here we characterize gaze stability in pigeons to rotational motion during regeneration after complete bilateral vestibular loss via an ototoxic antibiotic. Immediate postlesion effects included severe head oscillations, postural ataxia, and total lack of gaze control. We found that these abnormal behaviors gradually subsided, and gaze stability slowly returned to normal function according to a temporal sequence that lasted several months. We also found that the dynamic recovery of gaze function during regeneration was not homogeneous for all types of motion. Instead high-frequency motion stability was first achieved, followed much later by slow movement stability. In addition, we found that initial gaze stability was established using almost exclusive head-response components with little eye-movement contribution. However, that trend reversed as recovery progressed so that when gaze stability was complete, the eye component had increased and the head response had decreased to levels significantly different from that observed in normal birds. This was true even though the head-fixed VOR response recovered normally. Recovery of gaze stability coincided well with the three stage temporal sequence of morphologic regeneration previously described by our laboratory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asim Haque
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
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15
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Maurice M, Gioanni H, Abourachid A. Influence of the behavioural context on the optocollic reflex (OCR) in pigeons (Columba livia). J Exp Biol 2006; 209:292-301. [PMID: 16391351 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.02005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARYWe investigated the effects of several behavioural conditions on the properties of the horizontal optocollic reflex (OCR) in pigeons. The head reflex was triggered by rotating the visual surroundings at different velocities (stimuli steps of 30-300 deg. s-1) and the characteristics of the slow and fast phases of the OCR were analysed during,(i) the `resting condition', in which animals were hung in a harness, (ii) the`standing condition', in which animals were freely standing, (iii) the`walking condition', in which animals were walking on a treadmill at different velocities, and (iv) the `flying condition', in which animals were hung in a harness and subjected to a frontal air-stream, provoking a flying posture.In the `resting' condition, irregularities were observed in the amplitude of nystagmic beats, in the beating field and in the slow phase velocity (SPV)of the OCR. These irregularities diminished progressively when the behavioural condition changed from `standing' to `walking', and disappeared in the`flying' condition. Correlatively, the working range of the OCR (evaluated by its gain at the plateau of SPV) was progressively extended toward higher stimulation velocities.The velocity of the fast phases of the OCR (measured for all the conditions except the `walking condition') also increased in correlation with the SPV. The walking speed did not influence the OCR in the treadmill velocity range of 0.20-0.40 m s-1. The presence of a frontal airstream in the`standing condition' did not change the OCR properties. This fact (and other observations discussed in the paper) suggests that the adaptation of the OCR to the behavioural context is mediated by internal signals generated by each behavioural condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monique Maurice
- Laboratoire de Neurobiologie des Réseaux Sensorimoteurs, UMR 7060 CNRS-Université René Descartes, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75270 Paris Cedex 06, France
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Haque A, Dickman JD. Vestibular gaze stabilization: different behavioral strategies for arboreal and terrestrial avians. J Neurophysiol 2004; 93:1165-73. [PMID: 15525803 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00966.2004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In birds, it is thought that head movements play a major role in the reflexive stabilization of gaze and vision. In this study, we investigated the contributions of the eye and head to gaze stabilization during rotations under both head-fixed [vestibuloocular (VOR)] and head-free conditions in two avian species: pigeons and quails. These two species differ both in ocular anatomy (the pigeon has 2 distinct foveal regions), as well as in behavioral repertoires. Pigeons are arboreal, fly extended distances, and can navigate. Quails are primarily engrossed in terrestrial niches and fly only short distances. Unlike the head-fixed VOR gains that were under-compensatory for both species, gaze gains under head-free conditions were completely compensatory at high frequencies. This compensation was achieved primarily with head movements in pigeons, but with combined head and eye-in-head contributions in the quail. In contrast, eye-in-head motion, which was significantly reduced for head-free compared with head-fixed conditions, contributed very little to overall gaze stability in pigeons. These results suggest that disparity between the stabilization strategies employed by these two birds may be attributed to differences in species-specific behavior and anatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asim Haque
- Deptartment of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8108, 660 S. Euclid, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
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Dickman JD, Lim I. Posture, head stability, and orientation recovery during vestibular regeneration in pigeons. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 2004; 5:323-36. [PMID: 15492889 PMCID: PMC2504555 DOI: 10.1007/s10162-004-4047-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2003] [Accepted: 04/13/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Compensatory behavior such as oculomotor, gaze, and postural responses that occur during movement largely depend upon a functioning vestibular system. In the present study, the initial loss and subsequent recovery of postural and head stability in pigeons undergoing vestibular regeneration were examined. Adult pigeons were trained to manipulate a straight run chamber to peck an illuminated key for fluid reward. Six behavioral measures assessing performance, posture, and head stability were quantified. These included run latency, steps (walking), path negotiation (lane changes), gaze saccades, head bobs, and head shakes. Once normative values were obtained for four birds, complete lesion of all receptor cells and denervation of the epithelia in the vestibular endorgans were produced using a single intralabyrinthine application of streptomycin sulfate. Each bird was then tested at specific times during regeneration and the same behavioral measures examined. At 7 days post-streptomycin treatment (PST), all birds exhibited severe postural and head instability, with tremors, head shakes, staggering, and circling predominating. No normal trial runs, walking, gaze saccades, or head bobs were present. Many of these dysfunctions persisted through 3-4 weeks PST. Gradually, tremor and head shakes diminished and were replaced with an increasing number of normal head bobs during steps and gaze saccades. Beginning at 4 weeks PST, but largely inaccurate, was the observed initiation of directed steps, less staggering, and some successful path negotiation. As regeneration progressed, spatial orientation and navigation ability increased and, by 49 days PST, most trials were successful. By 70 days PST, all birds had recovered to pretreatment levels. Thus, it was observed that ataxia must subside, coincident with normalized head and postural stability prior to the recovery of spatial orientation and path navigation recovery. Parallels in recovery were drawn to hair cell regeneration and afferent responsiveness, as inferred from present results and those in other investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- J David Dickman
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
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Dunbar DC, Badam GL, Hallgrímsson B, Vieilledent S. Stabilization and mobility of the head and trunk in wild monkeys during terrestrial and flat-surface walks and gallops. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004; 207:1027-42. [PMID: 14766961 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.00863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated the patterns of rotational mobility (> or =20 degrees ) and stability (< or =20 degrees ) of the head and trunk in wild Indian monkeys during natural locomotion on the ground and on the flat-topped surfaces of walls. Adult hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus entellus) and bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) of either gender were cine filmed in lateral view. Whole-body horizontal linear displacement, head and trunk pitch displacement relative to space (earth horizontal), and vertical head displacement were measured from the cine films. Head-to-trunk pitch angle was calculated from the head-to-space and trunk-to-space measurements. Locomotor velocities, cycle durations, angular segmental velocities, mean segmental positions and mean peak frequencies of vertical and angular head displacements were then calculated from the displacement data. Yaw rotations were observed qualitatively. During quadrupedal walks by both species, the head was free to rotate in the pitch and yaw planes on a stabilized trunk. By contrast, during quadrupedal gallops by both species, the trunk pitched on a stabilized head. During both gaits in both species, head and trunk pitch rotations were symmetrical about comparable mean positions in both gaits, with mean head position aligning the horizontal semicircular canals near earth horizontal. Head pitch direction countered head vertical displacement direction to varying degrees during walks and only intermittently during gallops, providing evidence that correctional head pitch rotations are not essential for gaze stabilization. Head-to-space pitch velocities were below 350 deg. s(-1), the threshold above which, at least among humans, the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) becomes saturated. Mean peak frequencies of vertical translations and pitch rotations of the head ranged from 1 Hz to 2 Hz, a lower frequency range than that in which inertia is predicted to be the major stabilizer of the head in these species. Some variables, which were common to both walks and gallops in both species, are likely to reflect constraints in sensorimotor control. Other variables, which differed between the two gaits in both species, are likely to reflect kinematic differences, whereas variables that differed between the two species are attributed primarily to morphological and behavioural differences. It is concluded that either the head or the trunk can provide the nervous system with a reference frame for spatial orientation and that the segment providing that reference can change, depending upon the kinematic characteristics of the chosen gait.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donald C Dunbar
- Department of Anatomy and Caribbean Primate Research Center, University of Puerto Rico Medical School, PO Box 365067, San Juan, PR 00936-5067.
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Maurice M, Gioanni H. Eye–neck coupling during optokinetic responses in head-fixed pigeons (Columba livia): influence of the flying behaviour. Neuroscience 2004; 125:521-31. [PMID: 15062993 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2004.01.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/28/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The effects of the behavioural context on the properties of slow and fast phases of the horizontal optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) and on the electromyographic neck response (EMG) were investigated in head-fixed pigeons. Responses in two situations were compared: (i) animals were hung in a harness ('resting' condition); (ii) animals in harness were subjected to a frontal airflow that provoked a flight posture ('flying' condition). During optokinetic stimuli the neck muscles responded in synchrony and in synergy with the eye nystagmus in both the 'resting' and the 'flying' conditions. In the 'resting' condition the neck activity was essentially correlated to the slow phase velocity of the eyes (eye SPV) whereas in the 'flying' condition, the neck response was also correlated to the eye position. The neck response was independent of the retinal slip velocity during the OKN. The velocity of the slow and fast phases of the OKN was not modified by flight. However, the 'flying' condition provoked an increase of the neck response by augmenting both its velocity gain (neck EMG/eye SPV) and its position gain (neck EMG/eye position). These results show that although an optokinetic stimulation results in synchronised eye and head motor commands in head-fixed pigeons, only the head motor command is modified by the behavioural context ('flying' vs. 'resting'). This strategy could help pigeons in reorienting their gaze during the flight.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Maurice
- Laboratoire de Neurobiologie des Réseaux Sensorimoteurs, UMR 7060, CNRS-Université René Descartes, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75270 Paris Cedex 06, France
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Haker H, Misslisch H, Ott M, Frens MA, Henn V, Hess K, Sándor PS. Three-dimensional vestibular eye and head reflexes of the chameleon: characteristics of gain and phase and effects of eye position on orientation of ocular rotation axes during stimulation in yaw direction. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2003; 189:509-17. [PMID: 12783170 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-003-0426-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2002] [Revised: 04/03/2003] [Accepted: 04/12/2003] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We investigated gaze-stabilizing reflexes in the chameleon using the three-dimensional search-coil technique. Animals were rotated sinusoidally around an earth-vertical axis under head-fixed and head-free conditions, in the dark and in the light. Gain, phase and the influence of eye position on vestibulo-ocular reflex rotation axes were studied. During head-restrained stimulation in the dark, vestibulo-ocular reflex gaze gains were low (0.1-0.3) and phase lead decreased with increasing frequencies (from 100 degrees at 0.04 Hz to < 30 degrees at 1 Hz). Gaze gains were larger during stimulation in the light (0.1-0.8) with a smaller phase lead (< 30 degrees) and were close to unity during the head-free conditions (around 0.6 in the dark, around 0.8 in the light) with small phase leads. These results confirm earlier findings that chameleons have a low vestibulo-ocular reflex gain during head-fixed conditions and stimulation in the dark and higher gains during head-free stimulation in the light. Vestibulo-ocular reflex eye rotation axes were roughly aligned with the head's rotation axis and did not systematically tilt when the animals were looking eccentrically, up- or downward (as predicted by Listing's Law). Therefore, vestibulo-ocular reflex responses in the chameleon follow a strategy, which optimally stabilizes the entire retinal images, a result previously found in non-human primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Haker
- Neurology Department, University Hospital of Zürich, 8091 Zürich, Switzerland.
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21
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Donaldson IM. The functions of the proprioceptors of the eye muscles. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2000; 355:1685-754. [PMID: 11205338 PMCID: PMC1692902 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2000.0732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 142] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
This article sets out to present a fairly comprehensive review of our knowledge about the functions of the receptors that have been found in the extraocular muscles--the six muscles that move each eye of vertebrates in its orbit--of all the animals in which they have been sought, including Man. Since their discovery at the beginning of the 20th century these receptors have, at various times, been credited with important roles in the control of eye movement and the construction of extrapersonal space and have also been denied any function whatsoever. Experiments intended to study the actions of eye muscle receptors and, even more so, opinions (and indeed polemic) derived from these observations have been influenced by the changing fashions and beliefs about the more general question of how limb position and movement is detected by the brain and which signals contribute to those aspects of this that are perceived (kinaesthesis). But the conclusions drawn from studies on the eye have also influenced beliefs about the mechanisms of kinaesthesis and, arguably, this influence has been even larger than that in the converse direction. Experimental evidence accumulated over rather more than a century is set out and discussed. It supports the view that, at the beginning of the 21st century, there are excellent grounds for believing that the receptors in the extraocular muscles are indeed proprioceptors, that is to say that the signals that they send into the brain are used to provide information about the position and movement of the eye in the orbit. It seems that this information is important in the control of eye movements of at least some types, and in the determination by the brain of the direction of gaze and the relationship of the organism to its environment. In addition, signals from these receptors in the eye muscles are seen to be necessary for the development of normal mechanisms of visual analysis in the mammalian visual cortex and for both the development and maintenance of normal visuomotor behaviour. Man is among those vertebrates to whose brains eye muscle proprioceptive signals provide information apparently used in normal sensorimotor functions; these include various aspects of perception, and of the control of eye movement. It is possible that abnormalities of the eye muscle proprioceptors and their signals may play a part in the genesis of some types of human squint (strabismus); conversely studies of patients with squint in the course of their surgical or pharmacological treatment have yielded much interesting evidence about the central actions of the proprioceptive signals from the extraocular muscles. The results of experiments on the eye have played a large part in the historical controversy, now in at least its third century, about the origin of signals that inform the brain about movement of parts of the body. Some of these results, and more of the interpretations of them, now need to be critically re-examined. The re-examination in the light of recent experiments that is presented here does not support many of the conclusions confidently drawn in the past and leads to both new insights and fresh questions about the roles of information from motor signals flowing out of the brain and that from signals from the peripheral receptors flowing into it. There remain many lacunae in our knowledge and filling some of these will, it is contended, be essential to advance our understanding further. It is argued that such understanding of eye muscle proprioception is a necessary part of the understanding of the physiology and pathophysiology of eye movement control and that it is also essential to an account of how organisms, including Man, build and maintain knowledge of their relationship to the external visual world. The eye would seem to provide a uniquely favourable system in which to study the way in which information derived within the brain about motor actions may interact with signals flowing in from peripheral receptors. The review is constructed in relatively independent sections that deal with particular topics. It ends with a fairly brief piece in which the author sets out some personal views about what has been achieved recently and what most immediately needs to be done. It also suggests some lines of study that appear to the author to be important for the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- I M Donaldson
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, UK.
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22
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Dickman JD, Beyer M, Hess BJ. Three-dimensional organization of vestibular related eye movements to rotational motion in pigeons. Vision Res 2000; 40:2831-44. [PMID: 10960654 DOI: 10.1016/s0042-6989(00)00128-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
During rotational motions, compensatory eye movement adjustments must continually occur in order to maintain objects of visual interest as stable images on the retina. In the present study, the three-dimensional organization of the vestibulo-ocular reflex in pigeons was quantitatively examined. Rotations about different head axes produced horizontal, vertical, and torsional eye movements, whose component magnitude was dependent upon the cosine of the stimulus axis relative to the animal's visual axis. Thus, the three-dimensional organization of the VOR in pigeons appears to be compensatory for any direction of head rotation. Frequency responses of the horizontal, vertical, and torsional slow phase components exhibited high pass filter properties with dominant time constants of approximately 3 s.
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Affiliation(s)
- J D Dickman
- Department of Research, Central Institute for the Deaf, 818 South Euclid Avenue, 63110, St. Louis, MO, USA.
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Donaldson IM, Knox PC. Afferent signals from the extraocular muscles affect the gain of the horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex in the alert pigeon. Vision Res 2000; 40:1001-11. [PMID: 10720669 DOI: 10.1016/s0042-6989(99)00246-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
We have shown previously that the gain of the horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex (HVOR) is modified by afferent signals from extraocular muscle proprioceptors in the decerebrate pigeon. We have now analysed the variability of the HVOR in intact, alert pigeons and, using the artificial vestibulo-ocular reflex method, have found that in all of the pigeons tested afferent signals from the extraocular muscle proprioceptors modify the gain, but not the phase, of the HVOR. While this effect was seen in a given bird only on some occasions, when present it was consistent in magnitude and direction and closely similar to our previous observations on decerebrate pigeons. These results from alert, intact birds strengthen the evidence that extraocular muscle afferent signals play a part in the control of the vestibulo-ocular reflex.
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Affiliation(s)
- I M Donaldson
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, Appleton Tower, Crichton Street, Edinburgh, UK.
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Gioanni H, Sansonetti A. Role of basal ganglia and ectostriatum in the context-dependent properties of the optocollic reflex (OCR) in the pigeon (Columba livia): a lesion study. Eur J Neurosci 2000; 12:1055-70. [PMID: 10762337 DOI: 10.1046/j.1460-9568.2000.00963.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The possible participation of basal ganglia and associated structures [dorsal striato-pallidum, nucleus spiriformis lateralis (SpL), ectostriatum] in the elaboration of the optocollic reflex (OCR) was investigated by making bilateral chemical lesions (ibotenic acid). Previous data have shown that both the slow and fast phases of the OCR are dependent on the behavioural context. The slow phase velocity (SPV) and the peak velocity of fast phases obtained in non-flying pigeons ('resting condition') were enhanced in pigeons in which a flying posture was experimentally provoked ('flying condition'). Therefore, the effect of lesions was analysed in pigeons standing in the 'resting' or 'flying' condition. In the 'resting' as in the 'flying' condition, all the lesions provoked a decrease in SPV, which augmented with the stimulation velocity. Velocity step stimuli revealed greater OCR deficits than velocity ramp stimuli. Extensive lesions (including the striato-pallidum, ectostriatum and a part of the neostriatum), as well as SpL lesions, provoked a greater SPV decrease over a longer time than lesions restricted to the striato-pallidum or the ectostriatum. The peak velocity of fast phases was only reduced by the 'extensive lesion' in the 'flying condition'. The present data show that the basal ganglia system is involved in the elaboration of optokinetic responses and suggest that, to work in an optimal range, the optokinetic centres need to receive integrated information from basal ganglia in addition to direct visual input.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Gioanni
- Laboratoire de Neurobiologie des Réseaux Sensorimoteurs, ESA 7060, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75270 Paris, Cedex 06, France.
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Goode CT, Carey JP, Fuchs AF, Rubel EW. Recovery of the vestibulocolic reflex after aminoglycoside ototoxicity in domestic chickens. J Neurophysiol 1999; 81:1025-35. [PMID: 10085330 DOI: 10.1152/jn.1999.81.3.1025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Avian auditory and vestibular hair cells regenerate after damage by ototoxic drugs, but until recently there was little evidence that regenerated vestibular hair cells function normally. In an earlier study we showed that the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) is eliminated with aminoglycoside antibiotic treatment and recovers as hair cells regenerate. The VOR, which stabilizes the eye in the head, is an open-loop system that is thought to depend largely on regularly firing afferents. Recovery of the VOR is highly correlated with the regeneration of type I hair cells. In contrast, the vestibulocolic reflex (VCR), which stabilizes the head in space, is a closed-loop, negative-feedback system that seems to depend more on irregularly firing afferent input and is thought to be subserved by different circuitry than the VOR. We examined whether this different reflex also of vestibular origin would show similar recovery after hair cell regeneration. Lesions of the vestibular hair cells of 10-day-old chicks were created by a 5-day course of streptomycin sulfate. One day after completion of streptomycin treatment there was no measurable VCR gain, and total hair cell density was approximately 35% of that in untreated, age-matched controls. At 2 wk postlesion there was significant recovery of the VCR; at this time two subjects showed VCR gains within the range of control chicks. At 3 wk postlesion all subjects showed VCR gains and phase shifts within the normal range. These data show that the VCR recovers before the VOR. Unlike VOR gain, recovering VCR gain correlates equally well with the density of regenerating type I and type II vestibular hair cells, except at high frequencies. Several factors other than hair cell regeneration, such as length of stereocilia, reafferentation of hair cells, and compensation involving central neural pathways, may be involved in behavioral recovery. Our data suggest that one or more of these factors differentially affect the recovery of these two vestibular reflexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- C T Goode
- Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
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Gioanni H, Sansonetti A. Characteristics of slow and fast phases of the optocollic reflex (OCR) in head free pigeons (Columba livia): influence of flight behaviour. Eur J Neurosci 1999; 11:155-66. [PMID: 9987020 DOI: 10.1046/j.1460-9568.1999.00424.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The effect of behavioural context on the properties of slow and fast phases of the horizontal optocollic reflex (OCR) were investigated in head free pigeons for two situations, i.e.: (i) animals were hung in a harness ('resting condition'); (ii) animals were additionally submitted to a frontal airflow that provoked a flight posture ('flying condition') [Bilo and Bilo (1983) J. Comp. Physiol., 153, 111]. A 'transient flight' was also provoked in the 'resting condition' by tapping the breastbone region. Stimuli consisted either of velocity steps (30-300 degrees/s) or of an increasing velocity stimulus (0-300 degrees/s). The amplitude of nystagmic beats and the OCR gain increased in the 'flying condition' and during 'transient flight' as compared to the 'resting condition'. The OCR working range was considerably extended toward high velocities by the flying behaviour. In the 'resting condition', spontaneous head oscillations generally triggered a high-gain OCR, close to that obtained in the 'flying condition'. One-third of the animals showed a higher gain in response to an increasing velocity stimulus than with step stimuli, in the high velocity range. The linear relation between amplitude and peak velocity of OCR fast phases was independent of the stimulation velocity in the 'resting condition', whereas the amplitude and peak velocity increased with the stimulation velocity in the 'flying condition'. In this condition, the fast phase velocity was correlated with the slow phase velocity, but not with the retinal slip velocity. Thus, both the slow and fast phases of the OCR are dependent on the behavioural context.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Gioanni
- Laboratoire de Neurobiologie des Réseaux Sensorimoteurs, ESA 7060, Paris, France.
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Hayman MR, Donaldson IM. Changes in dorsal neck muscle activity related to imposed eye movement in the decerebrate pigeon. Neuroscience 1997; 79:943-56. [PMID: 9219957 DOI: 10.1016/s0306-4522(97)00018-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Movements of the head and eyes are known to be intimately related. Eye position has also been shown to be closely related to the electromyographic activity of dorsal neck muscles; however, extraocular muscle proprioception has not generally been considered to play a part in the control of such movements. We have previously shown that, in the pigeon, imposed movements of one eye modify the vestibular responses of several dorsal neck muscles in ways that are dependent on stimulus parameters such as the amplitude and velocity of imposed eye movement. The present study examines more closely the interactions between imposed eye movements and different muscle pairs. The three neck muscle pairs studied each responded to afferent signals from the extraocular muscles in discrete and specific ways which appeared to be correlated with their different actions. Complementary effects of imposed eye movements in the horizontal plane were seen for both the complexus and splenius muscle pairs, with imposed eye movements in one direction producing the largest inhibition of the ipsilateral muscle's vestibular response and imposed eye movements in the opposite direction the largest inhibition of the contralateral muscle's vestibular response. During roll tilt oscillation (ear-up/ear-down) in the frontal plane, similar complementary effects of imposed eye movement were seen in the complexus muscle pair, but the splenius muscle pair showed little tuning, with similar inhibition for imposed eye movement directed either upwards or downwards. In contrast to these complementary effects, the biventer cervicis muscle pair showed no vestibular modulation during vestibular stimulation in the horizontal plane and their spontaneous activity was not altered by imposed eye movement. During roll-tilt oscillation (ear-up/ear-down) in the frontal plane imposed eye movement directed vertically upwards increased both muscles' vestibular responses and imposed eye movement directed vertically downwards inhibited both muscles' vestibular responses. Section of the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve (deafferenting the eye muscles) abolished the effects of imposed eye movement on the neck muscle pairs. In conjunction with further control experiments these results provide compelling evidence that proprioceptive signals from the extraocular muscles reach the neck muscles and provide them with a functionally significant signal. We have previously shown that signals from the extraocular muscles appear to be involved in the control of the vestibulo-ocular reflex. It follows from the experiments reported here that proprioceptive signals from the extraocular muscles are also likely to be involved in the control of gaze.
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Affiliation(s)
- M R Hayman
- Centre for Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, U.K
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Hayman MR, Dutia MB, Donaldson IM. Afferent signals from pigeon extraocular muscles modify the activity of neck muscles during the vestibulocollic reflex. Proc Biol Sci 1993; 254:115-22. [PMID: 8290608 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1993.0135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Movements of the head and eye which, together, result in changes in the direction of gaze are linked in a number of species, including man, and eye position is known to affect the activity of neck muscles. This head-eye linkage has generally been ascribed to modification of neck muscle activity by internal estimates of eye position derived from motor commands. We have recently shown that afferent signals from stretch receptors in the extraocular muscles are involved in the moment-to-moment control of eye movements during the vestibuloocular reflex (VOR). We have now studied the interactions between head and eye movements by recording the electromyographic activity of several neck muscles during horizontal (yaw) or frontal (roll tilt) vestibular stimulation. Such a stimulus evokes a VOR in the eyes and a vestibulocollic reflex (VCR) in neck muscles. Imposing movements on one eye at saccadic velocities produced considerable inhibition of the VCR response of a number of neck muscles. The magnitude of these effects was dependent on the parameters of the imposed eye movement. Thus systematic changes were seen when the amplitude, velocity or direction of eye movement was varied. Movement of the eye in the opposite direction to that produced by a normal VOR produced a large inhibition of the VCR response, whereas movements in the same direction as the VOR produced only modest inhibition of the VCR response of the neck muscles tested. Slow, sinusoidal, imposed eye movements that mimicked the slow phase of the VOR produced changes in the gain of the VCR response which appear to correct for errors in the imposed eye velocity and thus tend to maintain the direction of gaze. The results show that changes in eye position have striking effects on the electromyographic activity of neck muscles during the VCR, and strongly suggest that extraocular muscle afferent signals are involved in head-eye coordination.
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Affiliation(s)
- M R Hayman
- Laboratory for Neuroscience, Department of Pharmacology, University of Edinburgh, UK
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Dieringer N, Meier RK. Evidence for separate eye and head position command signals in unrestrained rats. Neurosci Lett 1993; 162:129-32. [PMID: 8121615 DOI: 10.1016/0304-3940(93)90577-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Compensatory horizontal eye-head movements of unrestrained rats were recorded with search coils in a magnetic field in response to combined optokinetic plus vestibular sinusoidal oscillations (0.05-1 Hz). The velocity contribution of compensatory slow head movements for image stabilization was relatively small (about 30%). The beating field of ocular nystagmus shifted during each half cycle in quick phase direction. These changes in eye position were counterbalanced by concomitant changes in head position. As a result, the orientation of gaze position was kept straight ahead with respect to the body length axis. These results imply independent and task-specific recruitment orders for the ocular and neck motor system.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Dieringer
- Physiologisches Institut der Universität München, FRG
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Meier RK, Dieringer N. The role of compensatory eye and head movements in the rat for image stabilization and gaze orientation. Exp Brain Res 1993; 96:54-64. [PMID: 8243583 DOI: 10.1007/bf00230438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Compensatory horizontal eye movements of head restrained rats were compared with compensatory horizontal eye-head movements of partially restrained rats (head movements limited to the horizontal plane). Responses were evoked by constant velocity optokinetic and vestibular stimuli (10-60 degrees/s) and recorded with search coils in a rotating magnetic field. Velocity and position components of eye and head responses were analysed. The velocity gains of optokinetic and vestibular responses of partially restrained and of head restrained rats were similarly high (between 0.8 and 1.0). Eye movements in partially restrained rats also contributed most (about 80%) to the velocity components of the responses. At stimulus velocities above 10 degrees/s, the "beating field" of the evoked optokinetic and vestibular nystagmus was shifted transiently in the direction of ocular quick phases. The amplitude of this shift of the line of sight was about 3-10 degrees in head restrained and about 20-30 degrees in partially head restrained rats. Most of this large, transient gaze shift (about 80%) was accomplished by head movements. We interpret this gaze shift as an orienting response, and conclude that the recruitment of the ocular and the neck motor systems can be independent and task specific: head movements are primarily used to orient eye, ear and nose towards a sector of particular relevance, whereas eye movements provide the higher frequency dynamics for image stabilization and vergence movements.
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Affiliation(s)
- R K Meier
- Physiologisches Institut, Universität München, Germany
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Gioanni H, Bennis M, Sansonetti A. Visual and vestibular reflexes that stabilize gaze in the chameleon. Vis Neurosci 1993; 10:947-56. [PMID: 8217944 DOI: 10.1017/s0952523800006167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
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 x 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.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Affiliation(s)
- H Gioanni
- Laboratoire de Neurochimie-Anatomie, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
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Knox PC, Donaldson IM. Afferent signals from the extraocular muscles of the pigeon modify the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Proc Biol Sci 1993; 253:77-82. [PMID: 8396779 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.1993.0084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Although the extraocular muscles (EOM) contain stretch receptors it is generally thought that the afferent signals which they provide play no role in the control of eye movement. We have previously shown that these afferent signals do modify both the vestibular responses of single units in the oculomotor control system and the electromyographic responses of the EOM during the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). We have now investigated the effect of EOM afferent signals on the VOR itself, by recording the electro-oculogram of one eye while imposing movements on the other eye during the VOR. Moving the eye in a manner which mimics the slow phase of the VOR, we have found that, as the peak velocity of the imposed eye movement increases, the amplitude of eye movement of the other eye decreases. These results confirm that the output of the VOR itself, expressed as movement of the globe, and not merely some of its component parts, is modified by EOM afferent signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- P C Knox
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Edinburgh, U.K
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Lacour M, Borel L. Functional coupling of the stabilizing gaze reflexes during vertical linear motion in the alert cat. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 1989; 80:385-94; discussion 373-5. [PMID: 2634278 DOI: 10.1016/s0079-6123(08)62234-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Eye-head coordination is mainly achieved by means of stabilizing reflexes (VOR, VCR, OKR) and orienting movements (eye-neck surgery) underlying the close cooperation of the visual and vestibular systems in gaze stabilization. The functional coupling of these different sensorimotor subsystems has been principally analysed using rotatory stimulation of the whole body and/or of the visual surround. The aim of the present study was to investigate the dynamic properties of these stabilizing gaze reflexes and their coupling during linear motion in the vertical plane. These investigations were performed in the alert cat under open-loop conditions (head fixed). Otolith stimulation consisted of vertically translating the cat in total darkness using sinusoidal linear motion (0.025 Hz-1.39 Hz; 290 mm peak-to-peak amplitude). Optokinetic stimulation was provided by sinusoidally moving a pseudo-random visual pattern in front of the cat and in the vertical plane, with identical kinematic parameters. Normal visual-otolith interaction was performed by translating the cat in front of the stationary visual surround while conflicting interaction was provided by moving the animal and the visual pattern in phase and at the same velocity (visual stabilization). Results showed that the vertical otolith-neck reflex is very poorly developed or absent in the low frequency range of motion (0.025 Hz-0.25 Hz) while consistent EMG activity is found during pure optokinetic stimulation. EMG responses are in phase with the visual surround velocity in the upward direction and with the upward OKR velocity. A close correlation is observed between the EMG gain and the OKR gain, which both decrease in this low frequency range, indicating that gaze stabilization would be mainly ensured by the OKR and a functional oculo-collic coupling or eye-neck surgery in the vertical plane. On the contrary, gaze stabilization is principally achieved by way of the otolith-neck reflex in the higher frequency range of motion (above 0.25 Hz). EMG responses recorded during otolith stimulation exhibit a relatively constant gain and a phase lead with respect to motion velocity which progressively reduces as the stimulus frequency increases up to 1.39 Hz. When present, EMG responses evoked during the optokinetic stimulation show strong gain attenuation and phase lag. Normal visual-otolith interaction induces neck muscle activity which parallels the optokinetic and the otolith responses in the low and high frequency ranges, respectively. The motor responses are however improved in terms of gain and phase values in the whole frequency range when both sensory inputs are combined.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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Gioanni H. Stabilizing gaze reflexes in the pigeon (Columba livia). I. Horizontal and vertical optokinetic eye (OKN) and head (OCR) reflexes. Exp Brain Res 1988; 69:567-82. [PMID: 3371439 DOI: 10.1007/bf00247310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
A quantitative study of horizontal and vertical optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) and optocollic reflex (OCR) has been performed in the pigeon using the search-coil technique. The reflexes were analysed in response to either velocity steps or sinusoidal stimulation. Results show that: 1. In response to a velocity step stimulation, the slow phase velocity of both OKN and OCR increases gradually to reach a steady state level. When the stimulation stops in the dark, After Responses (OKAN-I, OKAR-I) occur. Time constants of the OKN charge (or OCR charge) and of the After Responses are lower for vertical than for horizontal responses. 2. In the free-head condition, both the head and the eye display a synchronized nystagmus which add their effects. However, the head reflex (OCR) accounts for about 80-90% of the entire linear gaze response (head + eye), except for the vertical steady state responses which are wholly accomplished by the head (OCR). 3. Both closed-loop and open-loop gains of steady state responses are higher for horizontal than for vertical reflexes. Vertical OCR, horizontal OKN and vertical OKN show properties of binocular integration, the response gain being higher for binocular than for monocular stimulations. By contrast, the horizontal OCR shows little binocular integration but displays a higher response gain for monocular stimulation, compared to horizontal OKN. 4. The horizontal OKN elicited by both monocular and binocular stimulation is asymmetrical, the gain being higher when the eye is driven by a temporo-nasal stimulation. In contrast, both vertical OKN and vertical OCR are practically symmetrical. 5. While both the gain of horizontal OKN and its linear range (up to 20 degrees/s) are improved when the head is free (gaze gain close to 1 up to 40 degrees/s), the vertical OKN and the vertical OCR have similar gain profiles and similar domains of linearity (up to 10 degrees/s). 6. In response to increasing the frequency of a sinusoidal stimulation at constant peak velocity, all the reflexes display a drop in gain and a strong increase of phase lag. The phase increase is greater for horizontal than for vertical reflexes. On the other hand, both gain and phase are higher for OCR than for OKN, both in the horizontal plane as well as in the vertical plane. 7. For sinusoidal stimulations, when the peak velocity (PV) is increased at a constant frequency (0.03 Hz), nonlinearities appear (drop in gain, phase increase) both for OKN and OCR.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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Affiliation(s)
- H Gioanni
- Département de Neurochimie-Anatomie, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
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