Fine structure of the anteromedial eye of the liphistiid spider,Heptathela kimurai

Background: The presence of efferent fibers in the anteromedial eye of liphistiid spiders kept in natural daily cycles of illuminance has been reported. However, this report is limited to innervation by the efferent fiber and daily rhabdomal changes, and there have been no detailed ultrastructural accounts of the eye. Methods: The fine structure of this eye was examined by electron microscopy. Results and conclusions: The eye consists of a cornea, a lens, a vitreous body, and a retina. The retina contains 13 or 14 receptor cells and glial cells. The rhabdoms are distal to the nuclei of the receptor cells. In the distal region of the receptive segment, the rhabdomeres lie in the center of the cell. In the middle region, anisomorphic rhabdoms formed by microvilli from adjacent cells are at the cell periphery. In the proximal region, the rhabdomeres are situated in the center of the cell. The ocellar nerve of the eye runs toward the protocerebrum and enters the posterior part of the first optic ganglion of the secondary eyes. Pigmented cells and nonpigmented cells are observed. The pigmented cells are located in the most lateral of the eye and cover the whole eye. The nonpigmented cells are located in the receptor cell bodies and extend to the origin of the ocellar nerve. They wind to form capillaries filled with electron-dense material. These structures are discussed in comparison with those of other spiders and other chelicerates. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Reversible inactivation of macaque frontal eye field

 The macaque frontal eye field (FEF) is involved in the generation of saccadic eye movements and fixations. To better understand the role of the FEF, we reversibly inactivated a portion of it while a monkey made saccades and fixations in response to visual stimuli. Lidocaine was infused into a FEF and neural inactivation was monitored with a nearby microelectrode. We used two saccadic tasks. In the delay task, a target was presented and then extinguished, but the monkey was not allowed to make a saccade to its location until a cue to move was given. In the step task, the monkey was allowed to look at a target as soon as it appeared. During FEF inactivation, monkeys were severely impaired at making saccades to locations of extinguished contralateral targets in the delay task. They were similarly impaired at making saccades to locations of contralateral targets in the step task if the target was flashed for ≤100 ms, such that it was gone before the saccade was initiated. Deficits included increases in saccadic latency, increases in saccadic error, and increases in the frequency of trials in which a saccade was not made. We varied the initial fixation location and found that the impairment specifically affected contraversive saccades rather than affecting all saccades made into head-centered contralateral space. Monkeys were impaired only slightly at making saccades to contralateral targets in the step task if the target duration was 1000 ms, such that the target was present during the saccade: latency increased, but increases in saccadic error were mild and increases in the frequency of trials in which a saccade was not made were insignificant. During FEF inactivation there usually was a direct correlation between the latency and the error of saccades made in response to contralateral targets. In the delay task, FEF inactivation increased the frequency of making premature saccades to ipsilateral targets. FEF inactivation had inconsistent and mild effects on saccadic peak velocity. FEF inactivation caused impairments in the ability to fixate lights steadily in contralateral space. FEF inactivation always caused an ipsiversive deviation of the eyes in darkness. In summary, our results suggest that the FEF plays major roles in (1) generating contraversive saccades to locations of extinguished or flashed targets, (2) maintaining contralateral fixations, and (3) suppressing inappropriate ipsiversive saccades. Received: 2 February 1996 / Accepted: 26 February 1997     

Genetic testing for inherited eye conditions in over 6,000 individuals through the eyeGENE network

Genetic testing in a multisite clinical trial network for inherited eye conditions is described in this retrospective review of data collected through eyeGENE®, the National Ophthalmic Disease Genotyping and Phenotyping Network. Participants in eyeGENE were enrolled through a network of clinical providers throughout the United States and Canada. Blood samples and clinical data were collected to establish a phenotype:genotype database, biorepository, and patient registry. Data and samples are available for research use, and participants are provided results of clinical genetic testing. eyeGENE utilized a unique, distributed clinical trial design to enroll 6,403 participants from 5,385 families diagnosed with over 30 different inherited eye conditions. The most common diagnoses given for participants were retinitis pigmentosa (RP), Stargardt disease, and choroideremia. Pathogenic variants were most frequently reported in ABCA4 (37%), USH2A (7%), RPGR (6%), CHM (5%), and PRPH2 (3%). Among the 5,552 participants with genetic testing, at least one pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant was observed in 3,448 participants (62.1%), and variants of uncertain significance in 1,712 participants (30.8%). Ten genes represent 68% of all pathogenic and likely pathogenic variants in eyeGENE. Cross‐referencing current gene therapy clinical trials, over a thousand participants may be eligible, based on pathogenic variants in genes targeted by those therapies. This article is the first summary of genetic testing from thousands of participants tested through eyeGENE, including reports from 5,552 individuals. eyeGENE provides a launching point for inherited eye research, connects researchers with potential future study participants, and provides a valuable resource to the vision community.     

摘除双侧眼球对大鼠视交叉上核节律性的影响

成年Ｗｉｓｔａｒ雌鼠５７只，随机分为实验组３０只，行双眼摘除术。对照组２７只。术后４周将各组动物体重相近的每３只列为一个配伍组，分别在０９：００～１０：００、１７：００～１８：００、２３：００～２４：００三个时间处死。将含有视交叉上核的脑组织经固定、恒冷箱切片后，用免疫组化ＡＢＣ法染色显示视交叉上核内含ＶＩＰ或ＡＶＰ的神经元，微机图像分析仪上测量光镜下这两种神经元的相对切面面积及平均免疫反应强度。结果：（１）对照组不同时间处死的动物ＶＩＰ能神经元切面面积以２３：００～２４：００最大，０９：００～１０：００次之，１７：００～１８：００最小，呈昼夜节律变化，ＡＶＰ能神经元也以２３：００～２４：００最大，但在０９：００～１０：００和１７：００～１８：００间差异无显著性；（２）摘除双眼后各时间组间ＶＩＰ能神经元和ＡＶＰ能神经元切面面积均不再显示显著性差异。提示实验组动物视交叉上核的这两种神经元功能活动的昼夜节律已发生改变；（３）实验组和对照组动物的ＶＩＰ能神经元和ＡＶＰ能神经元平均免疫反应强度在所测的三个时间中，均未见明显差异。     

148例新生儿眼结膜炎与产妇阴道病原感染相关性的分析

目的了解自然分娩产妇产道细菌性感染（不包括衣原体）对于新生儿眼结膜炎的发病影响，加强围产期保健，防止婴幼儿视力损害。方法对148例新生儿眼结膜炎患者作结膜囊渗出物细菌培养和药敏试验，根据培养结果将患儿分为A组：培养阴性（无菌生长）组，B组：培养阳性组（有菌生长），同时相应将A组、B组患儿母亲分为产妇A组和产妇B组，作阴道分泌物涂片革兰染色检查相对照。结果产妇A组检出病原菌者5例（17．2％），清洁度正常，未检出病原菌及滴虫者24例（82．8％）。患儿B组检出淋病奈瑟氏菌13株（10．9％），其它各属菌株106株（89．1％）。产妇B组涂片见有白细胞内外革兰阴性双球菌者11例（9．2％）；其它病原菌及念珠菌、滴虫感染者76例（63．9％），清洁度正常，未检出病原菌及滴虫者32例（26．9％）。产妇A组产道感染阳性率17．2％，B组阳性率73．1％，两者比较差异有极显著性（P〈0.001）。结论新生儿眼结膜炎与产妇产道感染有密切相关性，应加强对妊娠中晚期孕妇的生殖道感染防治，减少新生儿经产道感染的几率。     

正视眼角膜表面形态和屈光力分析

目的：为探讨正视眼角膜表面形态和屈光力。方法：８３只正视眼用ＴｏｍｅｙＴＭＳ－２ＴＭ型角膜地形图检查角膜表面形态和屈光力。结果：①绝对等级全角膜有２～５种颜色，屈光力有轻微的变化；②角膜中央屈光力为４３．８５４±１．３２１Ｄ，Ｓｉｍｋ值为４４．１４２±１．３４２Ｄ，平均屈光力（ＡＣＰ）为４３．００７±１．４７３Ｄ，角膜表面规则系数（ＳＲＩ）为０．２４１±０．２１３，角膜表面不对称系数（ＳＡＩ）为０．３２１±０．１３０，不规则散光指数（ＩＡＩ）为０．３５７±０．００６。结论：本文检查的国人正视眼角膜表面形态和屈光力数值，可为屈光性角膜手术提供解剖依据。     

Visual and vergence eye movement-related responses of pursuit neurons in the caudal frontal eye fields to motion-in-depth stimuli

The caudal parts of the frontal eye fields (FEF) contain smooth-pursuit related neurons. Previous studies show that most FEF pursuit neurons carry visual signals in relation to frontal spot motion and discharge before the initiation of smooth-pursuit. It has also been demonstrated that most FEF pursuit neurons discharge during vergence tracking. Accurate vergence tracking requires information about target motion-in-depth. To further understand the role of the FEF in vergence tracking and to determine whether FEF pursuit neurons carry visual information about target motion-in-depth, we examined visual and vergence eye movement-related responses of FEF pursuit neurons to sinusoidal spot motion-in-depth. During vergence tracking, most FEF pursuit neurons exhibited both vergence eye position and velocity sensitivity. Phase shifts (re target velocity) of most neurons remained virtually constant up to 1.5 Hz. About half of FEF pursuit neurons exhibited visual responses to spot motion-in-depth. The preferred directions for visual responses of most neurons were similar to those during vergence tracking. Visual responses of most of these neurons exhibited sensitivity to the velocity of spot motion-in-depth. Phase shifts of most of the responding neurons remained virtually constant up to 2.0 Hz. Neurons that exhibited visual responses in-depth were mostly separate from neurons that showed visual responses in the frontal plane. To further examine whether FEF pursuit neurons could participate in initiation of vergence tracking, we examined latencies of neuronal responses with respect to vergence eye movements induced by step target motion-in-depth. About half of FEF pursuit neurons discharged before the onset of vergence eye movements with lead times longer than 20 ms. These results together with previous observations suggest that the caudal FEF carries visual signals appropriate to be converted into motor commands for pursuit in depth and frontal plane.     

Neural control of fast-regular saccades and antisaccades: an investigation using positron emission tomography

 Regional cerebral blood flow changes related to the performance of two oculomotor tasks and a central fixation task were compared in ten healthy human subjects. The tasks were: (a) performance of fast-regular saccades; (b) performance of voluntary antisaccades away from a peripheral cue; (c) passive maintenance of central visual fixation in the presence of irrelevant peripheral stimulation. The saccadic task was associated with a relative increase in activity in a number of occipitotemporal areas. Compared with both the fixation and the saccadic task, the performance of antisaccades activated a set of areas including: the superior and inferior parietal lobules, the precentral and prefrontal cortex, the cingulate cortex, and the supplementary motor area. The results of the present study suggest that: (a) compared with self-determined saccadic responses the performance of fast regular, reflexive saccades produces a limited activation of the frontal eye fields; (b) in the antisaccadic task the inferior parietal lobes subserve operations of sensory-motor integration dealing with attentional disengagement from the initial peripheral cue (appearing at an invalid spatial location) and with the recomputation of the antisaccadic vector on the basis of the wrong (e.g., spatially opposite) information provided by the same cue. Received: 20 May 1996 / Accepted: 28 January 1997     

The effects of head and trunk position on torsional vestibular and optokinetic eye movements in humans

We measured torsional vestibular and optokinetic eye movements in human subjects with the head and trunk erect, with the head supine and the trunk erect, and with the head and trunk supine, in order to quantify the effects of otolithic and proprioceptive modulation. During active head movements, the torsional vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) had significantly higher gain with the head upright than with the head supine, indicating that dynamic otolithic inputs can supplement the semicircular canal-ocular reflex. During passive earth-vertical axis rotation, torsional VOR gain was similar with the head and trunk supine and with the head supine and the trunk erect. This finding implies that static proprioceptive information from the neck and trunk has little effect upon the torsional VOR. VOR gain with the head supine was not increased by active, self-generated head movement compared with passive, whole body rotation, indicating that the torsional VOR is not augmented by dynamic proprioceptive inputs or by an efference copy of a command for head movement. Viewing earth-fixed surroundings enhanced the torsional VOR, while fixating a chair-fixed target suppressed the VOR, especially at low frequencies. Torsional optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) evoked by a full-field stimulus had a mean slow-phase gain of 0.22 for 10°/s drum rotation, but gain fell to 0.06 for 80°/s stimuli. Despite this fall in gain, mean OKN slow-phase velocities increased with drum speed, reaching maxima of 2.5°/s–8.0°/s in our subjects. Optokinetic afternystagmus (OKAN) was typically absent. Torsional OKN and OKAN were not modified by otolithic or proprioceptive changes caused by altering head and trunk position with respect to gravity. Torsional velocity storage is negligible in humans, regardless of head orientation.Presented in part at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, October 31, 1989, Phoenix, AZ