Plenary Lecture: Orientation of the Eyes to Gravitoinertial Acceleration

Orientation of the eyes to gravitoinertial acceleration, i.e., to the sum of gravity and the linear accelerations acting on the head and body, is a basic property of the linear vestibulo-ocular reflex to support vision. Present in a wide range of species from the lateral-eyed rabbit to frontal-eyed monkeys and humans, the eyes deviate in pitch, roll and yaw in response to pitch, roll and yaw head movements. The eyes also converge in response to naso-occipital linear acceleration. This paper provides examples of ocular orientation generated by static tilt and off-vertical axis rotation in three dimensions and demonstrates specifically how vergence would support vision in the rabbit.