Visually evoked eye movements: Effects of labyrinthectomy

Nystagmus responses of cats to both optokinetic and flicker stimuli were studied before and after unilateral and bilateral labyrinthectomy. Destruction of the labyrinths served to reduce significantly the number of eye movements to each type of the visual stimuli. The opposite-direction after-nystagmus elicited by the optokinetic stimulus were abolished by bilateral labyrinthectomy. No changes occurred in the frequency of the flash nystagmus response that could be ascribed to body position. Thus, the data confirm previous work by others, but suggest species differences with regard to several properties of visually evoked nystagmus.