Eye movement during sleep and waking in infant monkeys (Macaca mulatta) deprived of patterned vision

Five newborn rhesus monkeys deprived of patterned vision and 4 normal‐sighted controls were reared until 18 months of age. There was a significant decrease in frequency of rapid eye movement (REM) in both groups with increasing age. Frequency of REM tended to be lower in experimental monkeys than in controls. Asymmetries in velocity of waking, horizontal eye movement were evident in experimental monkeys, and the velocity of REMs was less in pattern‐deprived monkeys than in controls. Nonsequential interval histograms between REMs at 18 months of age differed significantly from a random exponential distribution in both groups. Pattern‐deprived monkeys had significantly fewer short intervals between REMs than controls. Visual tests showed the pattern‐deprived monkeys to be behaviorally blind on removal of their eye occluders at 18 months of age.