Is Ocular Proprioceptive Sense Concerned in Vision?

In recent years, importance has been attributed to the part played by the proprioceptive sense of the extra-ocular muscles in orienting and modifying certain visual perceptions such as projection, stereopsis and the interpretation of motion on the retina. Disturbance of the proprioceptive sense has been cited as an etiologic factor in various motor anomalies, as nystagmus1and certain squints.2The work of Sherrington2has been accepted and interpreted as proof of proprioceptive sense in extra-ocular muscles by Duane,3Duke-Elder,4Adler5and Byrne6in their textbooks and by Karrer and Stevens7and McLean8in recent articles. In contemporary English literature on the extrinsic muscles of the eye this point of view seems prevalent, overshadowing that of such old authorities as Helmholtz,9Tscherning10and Hering,11who attributed no importance to the proprioceptive sense of the eye muscles in