The vestibulo-ocular reflex in man during voluntary head oscillation under three visual conditions

Abstract

The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) generated by voluntary head movements keyed to a tone varying sinusoidally in pitch was studied in 13 men. Modulation of pitch at frequencies ranging from 0.1-5.0 Hz yielded systematic variation in head movement frequencies, although above 2 Hz head frequencies fell below requested frequencies. Three conditions of visual stimulation were used. When an Earth-fixed visual target was visible, VOR gain (maximum eye velocity/maximum head velocity) was slightly but significantly greater than VOR gain in darkness at all frequencies except 0.1 Hz. With a head-fixed target, VOR gain was substantially less than VOR gain in darkness at all requested frequencies below 2.0 Hz. The finding that visual suppression becomes ineffective at frequencies above 1.0 Hz parallels results obtained in other laboratories during passive whole-body oscillation. Results indicate that the procedures are feasible for further evaluation as part of a clinical test battery.