Studies of Three-Dimensional Ocular Kinematics

描述(申请人提供)：斜视，两只眼睛的错位，是一种原因不明的疾病，由中枢神经发送到眼肌和/或眼肌和眼眶组织本身的问题引起。提高我们对眼球运动控制的中枢和外周方面的理解是有效临床诊断和治疗斜视患者的重要和必要的第一步。我们对大脑如何控制眼球运动的理解，极大地得益于神经元活动与眼球运动的比较，以及用数学模型量化这些关系。虽然这项任务在考虑单一方向的眼球运动时非常成功，但目前在考虑三维眼球运动控制时，主要存在不确定性、争议和相互矛盾的假设。出现问题的部分原因是，与这些争议相关的争论在很大程度上仅限于行为观察。目前，关于3D中用于眼动控制的运动神经元和运动前神经元的放电特性的数据非常少。如此缺乏的神经生理学数据包括最近眼外肌滑轮的组织学发现及其在3D眼球运动中的假定作用(主动滑轮假说)。这些研究的长期目标是在3D中表征眼球运动期间的神经活动，并用现有的或扩展的眼动系统数学模型来量化这些关系。在这一应用中，我们提出了一系列系统的实验，首次将行为、成像和建模之间的缺失联系起来，以了解机械和神经因素在3D眼动控制中的作用。因此，在眼跳、追踪和VOR过程中，运动神经元和运动前神经元的单个单位记录将试图提供一个全面的数据集，根据该数据集将评估现有的和修订的3D眼球运动功能模型。这些实验/模型研究的结果是解决这些争议的基础，并为全面了解健康和疾病中的眼动功能提供了基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Strabismus, the misalignment of the two eyes, is a disorder of unknown etiology, caused by problems related to either the central innervation sent to the eye muscles and/or the eye muscles and orbital tissues themselves. Improving our understanding of the central and peripheral aspects of eye movement control is an important and necessary first step for an effective clinical diagnosis and treatment of strabismus patients. Our understanding of how the brain controls eye movements has benefited enormously from the comparison of neuronal activity with eye movements and the quantification of these relationships with mathematical models. Whereas this task has been very successful when considering eye movements in a single direction, mainly uncertainty, controversy and conflicting hypotheses currently exist when considering oculomotor control in three-dimensions. Part of the problem arises because arguments related to these controversies have been largely limited to behavioral observations. Very little data currently exist regarding the discharge properties of motor and premotor neurons for oculomotor control in 3D. Such a paucity of neurophysiological data includes the recent histological discovery of extraocular muscle pulleys and their postulated role in 3D eye movements (active pulley hypothesis). The long-term goal of these studies is to characterize neural activity during eye movements in 3D and to quantify these relationships with existing or expanded mathematical models of the oculomotor system. In this application, we propose a systematic series of experiments that, for the first time, will provide the missing link between behavior, imaging and modeling in understanding the role of mechanical and neural factors in 3D eye movement control. Accordingly, single unit recordings from motoneurons and premotor neurons during saccades, pursuit and the VOR will attempt to provide a comprehensive data set upon which existing and revised models of oculomotor function in 3D will be evaluated. Results from these experimental/modeling studies are fundamental in resolving these controversies and providing a comprehensive understanding of oculomotor function in health and disease.