Effects of Bilateral Caloric Habituation on Vestibular Nystagmus in the Cat

Abstract

Transfer of bilateral caloric nystagmus habituation to unilateral calorization was investigated in a group of 60 cats. Habituation to bilateral caloric irrigations markedly reduced responses to both less intense and more intense unilateral stimulation.

Subsequent testing provided information concerning the effects of caloric habituation on: (1) directional specificity of response, (2) retention of the response decline, and (3) optokinetic nystagmus. Statistical analyses also indicated a sex difference in response magnitude.