1,721,028 research outputs found
A Vertical Asymmetry in Saccades
Full text linkVisual exploration of natural scenes imposes demands that differ between the upper and the lower visual hemifield. Yet little is known about how ocular motor performance is affected by the location of visual stimuli or the direction of a behavioural response. We compared saccadic latencies between upper and lower hemifield in a variety of conditions, including short-latency prosaccades, long-latency prosaccades, antisaccades, memory-guided sac- cades and saccades with increased attentional and selection demand. All saccade types, except memory guided saccades, had shorter latencies when saccades were directed to- wards the upper field as compared to downward saccades (p<0.05). This upper field reaction time advantage probably arises in ocular motor rather than visual processing. It may originate in structures involved in motor preparation rather than execution
Rhythmic synaptic activity induced by mechanical injury of rat CA3 hippocampal area.
No full textMechanical injury of the CNS frequently results from accidents but also occurs in the course of neurosurgical interventions. A great variety of anatomical and physiological changes have been described to evolve after a brain trauma yet only little is known about processes that occur during a trauma. In the present study, I obtained whole-cell patch clamp recordings from pyramidal cells in hippocampal slice cultures while mechanically lesioning the CA3 area. Electrophysiological analysis revealed that traumatic injury massively increased excitatory and inhibitory synaptic activity in the entire CA3 region. Cutting the CA3 region induced highly rhythmic excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) that reached frequencies of around 70 Hz. Blocking voltage-dependent sodium channels with tetrodotoxin prevented the increase in synaptic activity and injury-induced neurotransmitter release in CA3 remote from the lesion site. With fast synaptic transmission blocked only neurons in the immediate vicinity of a lesion depolarized and fired action potentials upon mechanical damage. I hence suggest that mechanical injury damages the membrane and induces action potential firing in only a small population of neurons. This activity is then propagated throughout the undamaged CA3 network inducing highly rhythmic discharges. Thus mechanical brain injury initiates immediate functional changes that exceed the lesion site
Gaze Dependent Vergence Adaptation.
No full textPURPOSE
The innervational pattern of extraocular muscles that maintain ocular alignment vary with gaze direction, age, and orbital anatomy. A muscle paresis, for example, may cause a misalignment, which is characterized by a gaze dependent deviation of the ocular alignment. Clinically this is termed incomitant strabismus. In this study we aimed at investigating the physiological mechanisms that enable orthophoria, i.e. good ocular alignment, in all directions of gaze. For this purpose we explored the physiological response to vergence stimuli and assessed their directional specificity.
METHODS
Vergence stimuli of gaze dependent magnitude were used to model image disparity of an incomitant, 'paretic', strabismus. We measured consecutive horizontal vergence responses that were elicited after subjects shifted their gaze from a gaze position without image disparity into a field of view with increased image disparity.
RESULTS
We found that repetitive saccades into a field of view with increased image disparity led to a rapid decrease of the phoria level, i.e. the magnitude of ocular misalignment in optically dissociated eyes decreased over time. The decrease was more pronounced in the gaze direction with increased disparity and to a lesser extent in the other gaze directions. Moreover, we confirmed a rapid increase of the vergence velocity over time. The gaze dependent modulation of phoria was found in both, smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements.
CONCLUSION
Thus an acute gaze dependent change of image disparity, such as may be encountered in new onset paretic strabismus, leads to an increased velocity of the vergence response and an increase of the phoria level with a gaze specific and a gaze independent component. This early adaptive response enables an increased efficacy of binocular vision and an orthophorisation in all directions of gaze in a case of a new onset incomitance. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015
Sehtraining für Kinder
No full textThe visual system has a pivotal role in most human activities. Many health disorders and psychomotor deficits involve the visual system at some level. From this some therapists infer a causal relation and apply a variety of visual therapies and trainings to cure a variety of deficits. The most prominent example is dyslexia, a disorder not caused by a defect in the primary visual system. Worldwide various non-evidence based therapies are used to treat dyslexia. The great number of exercises and visual trainings is contrasted by scientific evidence, which shows that exercises are useful in only few and selected disorders. The human visual system seems to be optimized such that no improvement can be achieved with training
Gaze-dependent phoria and vergence adaptation.
Full text linkIncomitance is a condition with gaze-dependent deviations of ocular alignment and is common in strabismus patients. The physiological mechanisms that maintain equal horizontal ocular alignment in all gaze directions (concomitance) in healthy individuals are poorly explored. We investigate adaptive processes in the vergence system that are induced by horizontal incomitant vergence stimuli (stimuli that require a gaze-dependent vergence response in order to re-establish binocular single vision). We measured horizontal vergence responses elicited after healthy subjects shifted their gaze from a position that required no vergence to a position that required convergence. Repetitive saccades into a position with a convergence stimulus rapidly decreased phoria (defined as the deviation of ocular alignment in the absence of a binocular stimulus). This change of phoria was present in all viewing directions (from 0° to 0.86° ± 0.40°, p < 0.001) but was more pronounced in the gaze direction with a convergence stimulus (from 0.26° ± 0.13° to 1.39° ± 0.33°, p < 0.001). We also found that vergence velocity rapidly increased (p = 0.015) and vergence latency promptly decreased (p < 0.001). We found gaze-dependent modulation of phoria in combined saccade-vergence eye movements and also in pursuit-vergence eye movements. Thus, acute horizontal, gaze-dependent changes of vergence, such as may be encountered in new onset strabismus due to paralysis, can rapidly increase vergence velocity and decrease latency. Gaze-specific (concomitant) and gaze-independent (incomitant) phoria levels will adapt. These early adaptive processes increase the efficacy of binocular vision and maintain good ocular alignment in all directions of gaze
Nystagmus Does Not Limit Reading Ability in Albinism.
Full text linkPURPOSE
Subjects with albinism usually suffer from nystagmus and reduced visual acuity, which may impair reading performance. The contribution of nystagmus to decreased reading ability is not known. Low vision and nystagmus may have an additive effect. We aimed to address this question by motion compensation of the nystagmus in affected subjects and by simulating nystagmus in healthy controls.
METHODS
Reading speed and eye movements were assessed in 9 subjects with nystagmus associated with albinism and in 12 healthy controls. We compared the reading ability with steady word presentation and with words presented on a gaze contingent display where words move in parallel to the nystagmus and thus correct for the nystagmus. As the control, healthy subjects were asked to read words and texts in steady reading conditions as well as text passages that moved in a pattern similar to nystagmus.
RESULTS
Correcting nystagmus with a gaze contingent display neither improved nor reduced the reading speed for single words. Subjects with nystagmus and healthy participants achieved comparable reading speed when reading steady texts. However, movement of text in healthy controls caused a significantly reduced reading speed and more regressive saccades.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results argue against nystagmus as the rate limiting factor for reading speed when words were presented in high enough magnification and support the notion that other sensory visual impairments associated with albinism (for example reduced visual acuity) might be the primary causes for reading impairment
Acute onset incomitant image disparity modifies saccadic and vergence eye movements.
No full textNew-onset impairment of ocular motility will cause incomitant strabismus, i.e., a gaze-dependent ocular misalignment. This ocular misalignment will cause retinal disparity, that is, a deviation of the spatial position of an image on the retina of both eyes, which is a trigger for a vergence eye movement that results in ocular realignment. If the vergence movement fails, the eyes remain misaligned, resulting in double vision. Adaptive processes to such incomitant vergence stimuli are poorly understood. In this study, we have investigated the physiological oculomotor response of saccadic and vergence eye movements in healthy individuals after shifting gaze from a viewing position without image disparity into a field of view with increased image disparity, thus in conditions mimicking incomitance. Repetitive saccadic eye movements into a visual field with increased stimulus disparity lead to a rapid modification of the oculomotor response: (a) Saccades showed immediate disconjugacy (p < 0.001) resulting in decreased retinal image disparity at the end of a saccade. (b) Vergence kinetics improved over time (p < 0.001). This modified oculomotor response enables a more prompt restoration of ocular alignment in new-onset incomitance
The effect of magnification and contrast on reading performance in different types of simulated low vision
Full text linkLow vision therapy, such as magnifiers or contrast enhancement, is widely used. Scientific evidence proving its efficacy is scarce however. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the benefits of magnification and contrast enhancement depended on the origin of low vision. For this purpose we measured reading speed with artificially induced low vision in 12 healthy subjects in conditions of a simulated central scotoma, blurred vision and oscillopsia. Texts were either blurred, set in motion or blanked at the gaze position by using eye tracking and gaze contingent display. The simulated visual impairment was calibrated such that all types of low vision caused equal reading impairment. We then tested the effect of magnification and contrast enhancement among the different types of low vision. We found that reading speed improved with increasing magnification and with higher contrast in all conditions. The effect of magnification was significantly different in the three low vision conditions: The gain from magnification was highest in simulated blur and least in central scotoma. Magnification eventually led to near normal reading speed in all conditions. High contrast was less effective than high magnification and the effect of contrast enhancement was similar in all low vision conditions. From these results we conclude that the type of low vision determines the benefit that can be expected from magnification. Contrast enhancement leads to similar improved reading speed in all low vision types. We provide evidence that supports the use of low vision aids
Reading performance is not affected by a prism induced increase of horizontal and vertical vergence demand
Full text linkPURPOSE
Dyslexia is the most common developmental reading disorder that affects language skills. Latent strabismus (heterophoria) has been suspected to be causally involved. Even though phoria correction in dyslexic children is commonly applied, the evidence in support of a benefit is poor. In order to provide experimental evidence on this issue, we simulated phoria in healthy readers by modifying the vergence tone required to maintain binocular alignment.
METHODS
Vergence tone was altered with prisms that were placed in front of one eye in 16 healthy subjects to induce exophoria, esophoria, or vertical phoria. Subjects were to read one paragraph for each condition, from which reading speed was determined. Text comprehension was tested with a forced multiple choice test. Eye movements were recorded during reading and subsequently analyzed for saccadic amplitudes, saccades per 10 letters, percentage of regressive (backward) saccades, average fixation duration, first fixation duration on a word, and gaze duration.
RESULTS
Acute change of horizontal and vertical vergence tone does neither significantly affect reading performance nor reading associated eye movements.
CONCLUSION
Prisms in healthy subjects fail to induce a significant change of reading performance. This finding is not compatible with a role of phoria in dyslexia. Our results contrast the proposal for correcting small angle heterophorias in dyslexic children
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