The human oculomotor response to simultaneous visual and physical movements at two different frequencies

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Wall, C.^a | Assad, A.^a; | Aharon, G.^a; | Dimitri, P.S.^a | Harris, L.R.^b;

Affiliations: [a] Department of Otology & Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, 243 Charles St. Boston, MA 02114, USA | [b] Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada

Correspondence: [***] Corresponding author: Dr. Laurence Harris, Dept Psychology, York University, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada. Tel.: +1 416 736 2100 x66108; Fax: +1 416 736 5814; E-mail: harris@yorku.ca

Note: [*] Present address: Abbott Laboratories, 100 Abbott Park Road, Abbott Park, IL 60064-3500, USA

Note: [**] Present address: 34 Tremlett St., Dorchester, MA 02124, USA

Abstract: In order to investigate interactions in the visual and vestibular systems' oculomotor response to linear movement, we developed a two-frequency stimulation technique. Thirteen subjects lay on their backs and were oscillated sinusoidally along their z-axes at between 0.31 and 0.81 Hz. During the oscillation subjects viewed a large, high-contrast, visual pattern oscillating in the same direction as the physical motion but at a different, non-harmonically related frequency. The evoked eye movements were measured by video-oculography and spectrally analysed. We found significant signal level at the sum and difference frequencies as well as at other frequencies not present in either stimulus. The emergence of new frequencies indicates non-linear processing consistent with an agreement-detector system that have previously proposed.

Keywords: vestibular, self motion, translation, non-linear processing, optic flow

DOI: 10.3233/VES-2001-11203

Journal: Journal of Vestibular Research, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 81-89, 2001