Saccular impact on ocular torsion

When someone is tilted laterally, the shear force on the maculae of the utriculus and the sacculus is described by the sine and the cosine of the angle of tilt, respectively. So both the sacculus and the utriculus are stimulated, but in the literature, ocular torsion is normally attributed to utricu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research bulletin 1996, Vol.40 (5), p.321-326
Main Authors: de Graaf, Bernd, Bos, Jelte E., Groen, Eric
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Humans
Kinetics
Linear acceleration
Male
Ocular Physiological Phenomena
Ocular torsion
Rotation
Saccades - physiology
Sacculus
Space life sciences
Torsion Abnormality
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Summary:When someone is tilted laterally, the shear force on the maculae of the utriculus and the sacculus is described by the sine and the cosine of the angle of tilt, respectively. So both the sacculus and the utriculus are stimulated, but in the literature, ocular torsion is normally attributed to utricular function alone (and, thus, seen as a response to y-axis linear acceleration). However, on the base of a series of experiments on a tilt chair, a linear track, human centrifuges, and during parabolic flights, we conclude that the sacculus contributes to ocular torsion as well (there is a response to z-axis linear acceleration). The data suggest that the ratio of the utricular and saccular impact on ocular torsion is 3:1. The utriculus generates conjugate and the sacculus disjunctive torsional eye movements.
ISSN:0361-9230
1873-2747
DOI:10.1016/0361-9230(96)00126-8