Postural reactions of dogs to sinusoidal motion in the peripheral visual field

Abstract

Dogs were trained to stand quietly on a movable table that was surrounded by a movable roof. The position of the dogs was monitored while the table was stationary and the roof was moved to provide an optokinetic stimulus restricted to the lateral visual fields. Sinusoidal oscillation of the visual surround caused these quietly standing dogs to generate consistent changes in body position. At low frequencies (around 0.1 Hz) the body position changes tended to lead the position of the optokinetic stimulus. At higher frequencies of visual surround oscillation, the dogs' position changes lagged the optokinetic stimulus position by larger amounts as the frequency of motion got higher. These data showing a postural reaction due to motion of the optokinetic stimulus demonstrate a strong visual component of the postural control system.