The influence of head position and head reorientation on the axis of eye rotation and the vestibular time constant during postrotatory nystagmus

Summary Reorienting the head with respect to gravity during the postrotatory period alters the time course of postrotatory nystagmus (PRN), hastening its decline and thereby reducing the calculated vestibular time constant. One explanation for this phenomenon is that the head reorientation results in a corresponding reorientation of the axis of eye rotation with respect to head coordinates. This possibility was investigated in 10 human subjects whose eye movements were monitored with a three-dimensional magnetic field — search — coil technique using a variety of head reorientation paradigms in a randomized order during PRN following the termination of a 90°/s rotation about earth vertical. Average eye velocities were calculated over two time intervals: from 1 s to 2 s and from 7 s to 8 s after cessation of head rotation. The time constant was estimated as one third of the duration of PRN. For most conditions, a reorientation of the head with respect to gravity 2 s after the rotation had stopped did not significantly alter the direction of the eye velocity vector of PRN with respect to head coordinates. This strongly indicates that, in humans, PRN is mainly stabilized in head coordinates and not in space coordinates, even if the otolith input changes. This finding invalidates the notion that the shortening of PRN due to reorientation of the head could be due to a change of the eye velocity vector towards a direction (torsion), which is not detectable with the eye recording methods (electrooculography) used in earlier studies. The results regarding the vestibular time constant basically confirm earlier findings, showing a strong dependence on static head position, with the time constant being lowest if mainly the vertical canals are stimulated (60° nose up and 90° left ear down). In addition, the time constant was drastically shortened for tilts away from upright. The reduction in vestibular time constant with head reorientation cannot be explained solely on the basis of the dependence of the time constant on static head position. A clear example is provided by head reorientations back towards the upright position, which results in a decrease in the time constant, rather than an increase that would be expected on the basis of static head position.