ROLE OF THE ACCESSORY OPTIC SYSTEM IN THE VERTICAL VOR

该项目的长期目标是探索松鼠猴副视觉系统外侧终末核(LTN)和桥脑背外侧核(DLPN)对垂直眼球运动的反应，最终与垂直前庭眼反射(VVOR)的运动学习有关。为了实现这一目标，提出了三个实验：(1)通过细胞外单位记录来监测LTN和DLPN中视觉信息的性质及其流动，以表征它们在VVOR和垂直视动性眼球震颤(VOKN)中的活动。(2)一旦确定了LTN和DLPN的特征，我们将用蝇草酚或利多卡因暂时灭活它们，以评估它们失活对正常VVOR和VOKN的影响。(3)将视觉信息传递到垂直VOR和垂直OKN小脑和脑干的神经通路，LTN和DLPN，将在解剖学上在松鼠猴身上定义。与骨骼运动系统的复杂性相比，动眼系统的简单性使其成为研究的热点。然而，眼动研究的结果对理解脊椎动物的运动、感觉和认知系统的功能以及人类行为产生了深远的影响。

The long-range goal of the proposed project is to explore the responses of the lateral terminal nucleus of the accessory optic system (LTN) and the dorsolateral pontine nucleus (DLPN) in the squirrel monkey in relation to vertical eye movements and eventually to motor learning of the vertical vestibulo ocular reflex (VVOR). To accomplish this goal, three experiments are proposed: (1) The nature of visual information and its flow will be monitored in the LTN and DLPN by extracellular single unit recording to characterize their activity during VVOR and vertical optokinetic nystagmus (VOKN). (2) Once the LTN and DLPN have been characterized we will temporarily inactivate them with muscimol or lidocaine to assess the effects of their inactivation on the normal VVOR and VOKN. (3) The neural pathways conveying visual information to the vertical VOR and vertical OKN cerebellar and brainstem pathways, the LTN and the DLPN, will be anatomically defined in the squirrel monkey. The simplicity of the oculomotor system makes it compelling for study when compared to the complexity of the skeletal motor system. Yet the results of eye movement studies have had a profound impact on understanding the function of motor, sensory, and cognitive systems of vertebrate and human behavior.