2007 Oculomotor System Biology Gordon Research Conference

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): After approximately 40 years of behavioral and single unit studies in awake, behaving animals, the oculomotor system is arguably the best understood motor control system. Traditionally, scientists have investigated the five oculomotor subsystems in isolation. Only recently has there been a push to pursue system-wide integration. Moreover, the field has begun to utilize imaging techniques, non-primate models (mouse, zebrafish), and in vitro approaches to generate a truly multidisciplinary view of the oculomotor system in health and disease. In 2005, we held the first ever Gordon Research Conference (GRC) entitled "Oculomotor System Biology". The immense success of the first meeting has resulted in another sponsorship by the GRC. This proposal requests support for a conference, whose objective is to bring together scientists and physicians of this mature field to take a fresh look at how the diverse components of the oculomotor system interact and to stimulate increased interdisciplinary research. The emphasis of the next (2007) meeting will be upon five emerging topics that span the breadth of issues in oculomotor system biology. First, rapidly evolving concepts of the extraocular periphery require a re-examination and reinterpretation of known neural signals and existing models. Second, oculomotor subsystems do not operate in isolation; the conference will specifically emphasize the integration of oculomotor and vestibular subsystems. The contributions of in vitro studies to understanding neural mechanisms will also be highlighted. Third, the oculomotor system is often viewed from an engineering control system perspective. A typical experimental approach has been to apply a perturbation to the system and observe its response. However, the limitations and advantages of the different types of perturbation are often not considered. Our goal is to include a session that raises awareness and discusses limitations of perturbation techniques. Fourth, the oculomotor system is increasingly being used as a tool to study cognitive processes. Emerging insights into mechanisms of attention, prediction and movement preparation will be emphasized. Finally, both physiology and oculomotor behavior can sometimes be better addressed in animal models other than primates and, hence, has prompted a neuroethology session on orienting responses. Hence, we seek to bring together ideas and investigators that are often not at the same venue. Disorders of eye movement systems include strabismus, nystagmus and internuclear ophthalmoplegia. Oculomotor responses are disturbed in motor control diseases (Parkinson's, torticollis), sensation syndromes (vertigo), and cognitive deficits (spatial neglect). Other disorders such as congenital fibrosis can also alter mechanistic properties of the extraocular muscle itself. Hence, the oculomotor system is of immense relevance to health.