Vestibulo-Ocular Mechanisms and Their Clinical Correlates

Abstract

In humans, the eyes play an important role in the maintenance of posture. Understanding some of the basic mechanisms involved in the complex interactions between the vestibular and ocular systems is essential when confronting their dysfunction. A study of the phylogenetic development of ocular movements provides insight into the structures and mechanisms controlling human eye movements.¹

The cranial nerve nuclei involved in the vestibulo-ocular system, their cortical and cerebellar control and internuclear connections are described. Clinical disorders which result from a lesion in these structures can be divided according to the plane in which the movement occurs, resulting in yaw, pitch and roll plane disorders.^2,3

• ocular movements
• vestibulo-ocular system
• nystagmus
• skew deviation
• DVD