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J Neurophysiol 60: 1022-1035, 1988;
0022-3077/88 $5.00
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Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol 60, Issue 3 1022-1035, Copyright © 1988 by APS

ARTICLES

Analysis of vertebrate eye movements following intravitreal drug injections. II. Spontaneous nystagmus induced by picrotoxin is mediated subcortically

M. Ariel, F. R. Robinson and A. G. Knapp
Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1. Eye movements were observed following an injection of picrotoxin, a GABA antagonist, into the vitreous of one eye. A spontaneous nystagmus was observed in cats, rabbits, and turtles, even in total darkness, with slow-phase eye movements in the temporal-to-nasal direction for the injected eye. 2. During visual stimulation by a horizontal drifting pattern, injected eyes moved in the temporal-to-nasal direction, irrespective of stimulus direction. In cats, however, the nystagmus was usually slower when the injected eye viewed nasal-to-temporal motion (opposite to the direction of the spontaneous nystagmus). The spontaneous nystagmus could be halted or even reversed by allowing cats to view motion opposite to the direction of the nystagmus with the uninjected eye alone. The nystagmus could not be overridden in this fashion in rabbits or turtles. 3. The nystagmus induced by picrotoxin could also be modified by vestibular stimulation. When cats were placed on their sides, the spontaneous horizontal nystagmus often decreased and spontaneous vertical nystagmus with upward slow phase movements occurred. During sinusoidal horizontal vestibular stimulation, the horizontal nystagmus due to picrotoxin added to the vestibuloocular reflex as a velocity offset in the temporal-to-nasal direction. 4. Following bilateral ablation of the cat visual cortex, picrotoxin's effect became even more pronounced than before the ablation. Therefore, at least some picrotoxin-sensitive cells can use subcortical pathways, perhaps to the accessory optic nuclei. The visual cortex, which also processes directional information, may be able to compensate for changes in retinal processing induced by picrotoxin in intact animals. 5. This study demonstrates the importance of retinal GABA in the control of eye stability. As GABA is known to be responsible for null direction inhibition of directionally sensitive retinal ganglion cells, these results suggest that the output of these cells may be critical for the normal functioning of central optokinetic pathways, even in the absence of visual cortex.


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Optokinetic Deficits in Albino Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo): A Behavioral and Electrophysiological Study
J. Neurosci., April 21, 2004; 24(16): 4061 - 4069.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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