Parameters of the control signals for saccadic eye movement: Electrical stimulation and modeling

• Published in: Experimental neurology Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 148 - 161
• Main Authors: Reinhart, Richard J., Zuber, B.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 1971
• Subjects: Abducens Nerve - physiology; Animals; Cats; Computers
• ISSN: 0014-4886; 1090-2430
• DOI: 10.1016/0014-4886(71)90229-9

The oculomotor control system was investigated as a biological servomechanism governing eye position. Saccadiclike eye movements were produced in the anesthetized cat by stimulating the abducens nerve innervating the lateral rectus muscle. The form of the stimulus necessary to produce such a movement consisted of an initially high-stimulus pulse frequency applied for a fixed time followed by a lower steady-state pulse frequency. The form of the saccadiclike eye movement and its corresponding velocity were determined by the initial high-pulse frequency and by the amount of time for which it was applied. Proper adjustment of these parameters resulted in saccadic velocity profiles that are similar to those measured in human subjects. The saccadiclike eye movements thus produced in the cat were very similar to those produced by a digital computer simulation of the orbital mechanics derived in part from previous studies. Some details of human saccadic velocity profiles are explained by these results. These velocity profiles are believed to reflect the form of the neural signal responsible for the saccadic eye movement.