Why Measure Eye Movements to Test the Vestibular System of the Inner Ear?
Clear vision requires a stable image on the retina. However during normal everyday activities there are considerable head movements and so to provide a stable retinal image during head movements there has to be a mechanism to stabilize the eye. Receptors in the vestibular (balance) system of the inner ear detect head movement because head movements cause fluid flow in the semicircular canals of the inner ear resulting in receptors being activated. Neurons from those receptors drive the eyes via short fast pathways and act to correct for the head movement. In healthy people the eye movement is equal and opposite to the head movement so the image on the retina of the eye is stable and visual perception is clear. This process is called the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR). So while jogging it is possible to read signs because the vestibular receptors correct for head movements and provide stable gaze, or in other...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Black RA, Halmagyi GM, Thurtell MJ, Todd MJ, Curthoys IS (2005) The active head-impulse test in unilateral peripheral vestibulopathy. Arch Neurol 62(2):290–293. doi:62/2/290 [pii], 10.1001/archneur.62.2.290 [doi]
Curthoys IS (2012) The interpretation of clinical tests of peripheral vestibular function. Laryngoscope 122(6):1342–1352. doi:10.1002/lary.23258 [doi]
Delori FC, Webb RH, Sliney DH (2007) Maximum permissible exposures for ocular safety (ANSI 2000), with emphasis on ophthalmic devices. J Opt Soc Am Opt Image Sci Vis 24(5):1250–1265. doi:10.1364/josaa.24.001250
Halmagyi GM, Curthoys IS (1988) A clinical sign of canal paresis. Arch Neurol 45(7):737–739
Halmagyi GM, Curthoys IS, Cremer PD, Henderson CJ, Todd MJ, Staples MJ, D'Cruz DM (1990) The human horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex in response to high-acceleration stimulation before and after unilateral vestibular neurectomy. Exp Brain Res 81(3):479–490
Halmagyi GM, Black RA, Thurtell MJ, Curthoys IS (2003) The human horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex in response to active and passive head impulses after unilateral vestibular deafferentation. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1004:325–336
Haslwanter T (1995) Mathematics of 3-dimensional eye rotations. Vision Res 35(12):1727–1739. doi:10.1016/0042-6989(94)00257-m
MacDougall HG, Weber KP, McGarvie LA, Halmagyi GM, Curthoys IS (2009) The video head impulse test: diagnostic accuracy in peripheral vestibulopathy. Neurology 73(14):1134–1141. doi:73/14/1134 [pii], 10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181bacf85 [doi]
MacDougall HG, McGarvie LA, Halmagyi GM, Curthoys IS, Weber KP (2013a) Application of the video head impulse test to detect vertical semicircular canal dysfunction. Otol Neurotol 34(6):974–979. doi:10.1097/MAO.0b013e31828d676d [doi]
MacDougall HG, McGarvie LA, Halmagyi GM, Curthoys IS, Weber KP (2013b) The video head impulse test (vHIT) detects vertical semicircular canal dysfunction. PLoS One 8(4):e61488. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0061488 [doi]
Manzari L, Burgess AM, MacDougall HG, Bradshaw AP, Curthoys IS (2011) Rapid fluctuations in dynamic semicircular canal function in early Meniere’s disease. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 268(4):637–639. doi:10.1007/s00405-010-1442-5 [doi]
Moore ST, Haslwanter T, Curthoys IS, Smith ST (1996) A geometric basis for measurement of three-dimensional eye position using image processing. Vision Res 36(3):445–459. doi:0042-6989(95)00130-1 [pii]
Robinson DA (1976) Adaptive gain control of vestibuloocular reflex by cerebellum. J Neurophysiol 39(5):954–969
Weber KP, Aw ST, Todd MJ, McGarvie LA, Curthoys IS, Halmagyi GM (2008) Head impulse test in unilateral vestibular loss: vestibulo-ocular reflex and catch-up saccades. Neurology 70(6):454–463. doi:70/6/454 [pii], 10.1212/01.wnl.0000299117.48935.2e [doi]
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Curthoys, I.S., MacDougall, H.G. (2013). Vestibular Eye Movement Testing. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_734-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_734-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6
eBook Packages: Living Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences