Effects of Visual Experience on Vestibular Nystagmus Habituation in the Cat

Abstract

Separate groups of ten cats each were exposed to three specific varieties of visual experience during a series of angular accelerations, and then compared on a test trial in darkness with three control groups of ten cats each that had received the same acceleration experience but without concomitant visual stimulation. Animals were maintained in a high state of arousal with d-amphetamine. Electro-oculographic recordings showed that the nystagmic response decrement was prominent for all six groups and that the visual experience neither hastened nor slowed the habituation process.