Visual and vestibular reflexes that stabilize gaze in the chameleon

Abstract

AbstractSpontaneous 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 × 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. Optimal gaze stabilization (gain of 0.8) was only obtained with combined visual and vestibular stimulation in the free-head condition. Cervical stimulation provoked a compensatory cervico-ocular reflex (COR) with a gain of 0.2–0.4 as well as ocular saccades, which were especially numerous in the presence of a visual surround. The direction of these saccades alternated between compensatory and anti-compensatory.