Control of the saccadic and smooth pursuit systems after cerebral hemidecortication

Saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements were analysed in 5 patients eight to twelve years after cerebral hemidecortication. Saccadic peak velocities were mildly reduced and saccadic durations were prolonged in both horizontal directions. Slowing of saccades may signify a loss of cerebral modulatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBrain (London, England : 1878) Vol. 102; no. 2; p. 387
Main Authors Sharpe, J A, Lo, A W, Rabinovitch, H E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.06.1979
Subjects
Adult
Child
Decerebrate State - physiopathology
Dominance, Cerebral
Eye Movements
Female
Humans
Male
Nystagmus, Pathologic - physiopathology
Pons - physiopathology
Saccades
Vision Disorders - physiopathology
Visual Perception
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Summary:Saccadic and smooth pursuit eye movements were analysed in 5 patients eight to twelve years after cerebral hemidecortication. Saccadic peak velocities were mildly reduced and saccadic durations were prolonged in both horizontal directions. Slowing of saccades may signify a loss of cerebral modulation of the discharge frequency and duration of brain-stem burst units or a less specific susceptibility of the hemidecorticate brain to fatigue. Symmetrical latencies of saccades to 20- and 40-degree target steps into the hemianopic and intact visual fields provided evidence for brain-stem processing of retinal signals from the hemianopic field. Latencies of saccades to 5-degree target steps into the blind hemifield were significantly longer than to 5-degree steps into the intact field. Disparity between saccadic latencies to parafoveal (5 degrees) and peripheral (20- and 40-degrees) targets indicated that such visual capacity in the hemianopic field is dependent upon target eccentricity.
ISSN:0006-8950
DOI:10.1093/brain/102.2.387